Dona DiPrima:Ace Apprentice Attorney
by Benit149
Summary: NaNoWriMo 2015 story. Dona DiPrima is a student of Themis interning under another attorney, but after the crazy circumstances surrounding her first case, she is accepted into the Wright Anything Agency as an apprentice. Although she doesn't have her attorney's badge, it won't stop her from seeking the truth alongside her colorful mentors. *Spoiler alert for multiple AA games!*
1. Turnabout Apprentice - 1

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Investigation: Part 1**

" _I will never forget this day as long as I live. Not only was it my 17th birthday, but thanks to my high marks at Themis Legal Academy, I was allowed to observe an actual trial from a defense attorney's perspective. I was interning under Attorney Cybil Impressa's watchful guidance. Naturally, I was not allowed to participate in the actual deliberations. Although I was responsible for the evidence, she really wanted me to focus on the trial and not worry about being the defense's assistant. I wanted to study law in university after graduating from Themis anyway, but this interning position would give me the edge I needed. I was content to sit on the sidelines and remain a spectator._

" _Life certainly has funny ways of throwing turnabouts upon us. I never would have imagined what this trial had in store for a student of law. But no matter how stressful things got in the courtroom, I always kept three principles at heart; believe in the client, provide genuine evidence, and seek the truth. Those facts never change no matter how experienced you are. Indeed, the courtroom turned out to be an unexpected classroom for me to learn those valuable lessons."_

* * *

 **October 19, 2031**

 **3:20 P.M.**

 **Themis Legal Academy**

Classes had just ended for the day at Themis Legal Academy, and some students returned home while others joined up together for various after-school club activities. The school divided its students and their uniforms by its three main courses; blue for defense attorney, red for prosecutor, and black for judge. This applied to both the female sailor uniform and the male gakuran so that there'd be no mistake to what that student was studying for, and made things much easier for the professors to organize their classes.

Entering this school was both a sign of academic influence and prestige, as it was not cheap for parents to enroll their children into Themis. Unfortunately, the school suffered a major blow to its reputation around this time four years ago when Prof. Aristotle Means from the defense attorney class murdered his own colleague, Prof. Constance Courte of the judge course, and tried to pin it on one of the judge course students. Another terrible setback was the reveal of a former Chief Prosecutor's son achieving high marks only due to his father's rank, as well as bribes taken in secret deals. And yes, those kinds of bribes became the motive for Means murdering Courte, since she had discovered his secret activities.

As if that wasn't complicated enough, Themis also suffered from the period that the general public and the media dubbed 'the dark age of law', which lasted from around 2020 to 2027. This was the result of two extremely prolific cases that shattered the public's trust in the legal system, and then the bombing of one of the District Court's courtrooms served as the literal symbol for this crash in faith. Themis' professors also became jaded in return and tried to force their doctrines upon their students, leading to the school being split between 'the ends justifies the means' versus 'the truth is more important than results'.

Four years after all of these crises had been exposed and resolved, some lingering effects still remained within the student body. A new dean had been appointed to oversee the faculty and ensure that such a disaster never happened again, and a board of directors was established between various teachers to ensure their students wouldn't be manipulated by their professors again. The student council also had its greater share of responsibilities, acting as an intermediary between the students and the board should anything go wrong. Themis had lost a lot of recognition from these scandals, but everyone would work hard to put those dark days behind them and restore the school to its former prestige.

It was only the first half of the first semester, but already the students were busy getting ready for the 71st Annual School Festival, not to mention having to keep up with their studies and club activities. For the freshmen, it was their inauguration into the hustle and bustle of Themis' most entertaining day of the year. For the seniors, it was their last chance to enjoy high school life before having to commit themselves to their careers.

One female student from the defense attorney course didn't involve herself a great deal in these preparations, as she had to focus on her internship with an actual lawyer's office. She didn't have much trouble with her studies throughout the years, but since she wasn't always in the best of health, she had to keep her club activities light so she wouldn't be too stressed out. This also meant having to distance herself from the school festival, this year most especially due to her hectic schedule.

This was why she jogged to the school's front entrance and dialed her home number on her cell phone. A man answered, _"This is the DiPrima residence. How may I help you?_ "

"Bertie? It's Dona," the girl answered.

" _Ah, young miss. From your audible panting, I assume that an emergency has come up, yes?_ "

"Mrs. Impressa called me just now. She wanted me to join her on an investigation into a potential homicide, so I won't be able to have dinner there."

" _That is quite all right. I am just hoping something similar won't happen tomorrow since you and your sister are to celebrate your birthdays together._ "

"I already told Mrs. Impressa about that and, other than observing the trial from the defense bench in the morning, she's given me the day off."

" _Very good. Be sure not to wear yourself out with this investigation of yours. Remember, you are only to shadow Mrs. Impressa. You are not expected to participate in the search; that is for the police to handle. You just take notes and learn from your mentor's example._ "

"I know. But I'm just bothered by the way she said it was a 'potential homicide'," Dona wondered.

" _If a defense attorney is present at a crime scene, it means they have a client to defend._ "

"That's a good point. Anyway I have to get going. The crime scene isn't too far from here, so I can walk."

" _No, that won't do. Even if it's just a short distance, you should take your car. I always fret about you getting a cold in this weather, especially since you were discharged from the hospital back in the summer. You must protect your constitution at any cost, young miss._ "

"All right, I'll drive. Just so you don't worry about me."

" _You take care now. If anything from the crime scene bothers you when you come home, I will always be available to talk to._ "

"Yes, sir."

Dona hung up and scurried to the parking lot where her white Rolls-Royce waited for her, parked next to an identical black Rolls-Royce that belonged to her sister. She got into the white vehicle and drove for the crime scene.

* * *

 **October 19, 2031**

 **3:30 P.M.**

 **Crime Scene**

As Dona drove down the street toward the crime scene, she happened to notice a familiar purple Porsche parked off to the side and caught the license plate before rounding the corner. The plate read 'L-IMPRESS'.

 _Hmm? That's Dr. Impressa's car. Why would he be in the area when his pharmacy is way on the other side of town?_

As she pondered this, she found the house in question quite easily due to the number of police cars surrounding the driveway and immediate area. Dona parked her car in a safe spot and approached the house, which was cordoned off with yellow caution tape and police officers. Even though she was supposed to assist in the investigation, there was no possible way she could enter without her mentor to authorize it. She had no choice but to wait among the small crowd of neighbors until Mrs. Impressa arrived. She figured it would be a good opportunity to ask these people a few basic questions in the meantime.

Dona approached an elderly lady in an electric wheelchair stroking a rather mean-looking cat's fur, and asked, "What happened here?"

"Hmm?" the woman squinted intensely and adjusted her glasses. "Who y'supposed to be? I dun recall seein' a lass like you in the neighborhood."

"My name's Dona. My mentor Cybil Impressa told me that her husband's brother lives here."

"Ohhh, so you be Cybil's newest lil' scamp! Yes, she always dotes on about her latest students every year! My, my, my, what a darling y'are! I'm the neighbor from two doors down, Marie Annie Smith, but everyone calls me Granny Smith. Y'could call me the town's very own private eye 'cause I love keepin' tabs on everyone!"

 _A gossiping type, I suppose._ "Um, if you say so… So anyway, is everything okay with her husband's brother?"

The old woman shook her head and sighed, "Ah, such tragedy. I saw the paramedics wheelin' out the poor man's body into the ambulance 'bout lil' over an hour ago at 2:25. Even if he was a lech, peepin' tom and a petty crook, I wouldn't wish that kind of death on that fruitcake of a nuisance."

 _Sounds like the victim was Mrs. Impressa's brother-in-law, Forst Impressa,_ Dona noted, then asked, "How did he die?"

"A fire broke out at about 1:45 while I was doin' my usual knittin' with my lil' Malus 'ere," Smith recalled while petting her cat. "Luckily I called them fire guys and told them t'git their butts over 'ere 'fore things got outta control. I don't know the details, but I'm guessin' the blaze didn't spread much further than the bugger's bedroom. The rest o'the house looks mighty fine, if y'ask me. 'Course a lil' paint job ain't gonna do much good for that kinda damage. Might as well tear the sucker down and start from scratch, I reckon."

"You're probably right," Dona agreed, observing the burnt out remains of one of the rooms starkly contrasting the otherwise untouched house.

Marie hummed a bit before muttering, "By the way, I wonder if that nurse got out okay."

"Nurse?"

"Yeah, the poor lass who's had to babysit that cuckoo over the last year or two. Since his only caretakers are too busy with their jobs and he didn't wanna go to a nursing home, they had t'hire a full-time nurse t'make sure he don't get into any trouble. Poor thing had nothing but trouble from day one, and she'd come cryin' to me 'bout all the things Forst would do t'her."

"I see. If the medics didn't wheel out a second body, it should mean that she's fine," Dona surmised, then thought, _Mrs. Impressa said that this was a 'potential homicide', so I'm wondering if that nurse is somehow involved in this, either as a witness or as the defendant._

"Oh dear, oh my, what a terrible mess. Isn't that right, Malus, my boy?" Marie moaned while petting her cat so hard that fur flew onto her cardigan. She then asked Dona, "Do y'think the boys in blue are gonna drag me to the station and question me for hours on end, dearie? My heart ain't used to be the same as before, and it can't take such drama!"

"I don't think that'll happen," the student replied. "They have the 9-1-1 call on record, and you were nowhere near the scene of the fire. I think they'll just take a statement from you right here."

"Ohhh, how convenient! I ain't into this legal mumbo jumbo, even though Cybil's tried her darndest to explain her cases t'me. But how do y'know this kinda stuff, dearie? You studyin' t'be like lil' Cybil?"

 _Uh… doesn't my uniform give it away? And I already said I was her intern._

"Ohhh, that's right! You're Cybil's lil' scamp, Dana!" Marie snapped her fingers in annoyance.

"It's Dona, ma'am," the girl reminded her.

"Whatever. My mind ain't the same as it used t'be, so don't git your knickers in a twist if I can't remember things right!"

 _Which makes me question just how reliable her statement will be…_

Right then, another car pulled up to the scene, and a woman in her 60s got out and greeted the pair with, "There you are, Dona! And good afternoon, Marie."

"What happened, Mrs. Impressa? You were running kind of late," Dona asked.

"Sorry about that. I had a few things to take care of at the office, and my husband just phoned me saying he'd be coming shortly."

"I see. Mrs. Smith got me up to speed while I was waiting for you."

"Right! Thank you for calling the fire department so quickly, Marie."

Marie exclaimed, "Hoh! It certainly gave me a right ol' scare, lemme tell ya, Cybil! Those kinda things never happened t'me when I was livin' in the Heartland!"

"I'll bet. If you'll excuse us," Cybil bowed to Marie and then said to her pupil, "All right, Dona, we need to investigate the scene ASAP."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

 **October 19, 2031**

 **3:45 P.M.**

 **Crime Scene - Lounge**

After Cybil discussed several things with the police officers guarding the area, the duo were allowed to enter the house on the condition that they didn't touch anything. Although it was the bedroom that suffered the worst of the fire, crime analysts still photographed the rest of the house for anything suspicious. The one leading the investigation was one Detective Ema Skye, and she didn't look terribly happy about it judging from the fervent munching of her snacks.

"Hello again, detective," Cybil greeted the young woman. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Hey there, Mrs. Impressa. I thought you'd be showing up soon, since this is your husband's place and all."

"Still haven't been transferred to forensics, I see? Nothing else can explain that grumpy look on your face."

"Hmph. The upper brass are always complaining about the precinct being 'short staffed' and all that. It could have been that glimmerous fop prosecuting the case, so it's not as bad as it looks."

"Who will be the prosecutor?" Cybil asked.

"Winston Payne."

"Hoh hoh hoh! That boy and I go back a long ways! I hear he's set to retire around the same time as me."

"Yeah, I guess. That's in the spring, isn't it?"

"It certainly is. Although I'll miss my job, I look forward to the relaxation. My poor bones can't keep up with you youngsters anymore, not to mention that my memory has been rather poor lately."

"Congratulations on your retirement, Mrs. Impressa. And sorry for having to switch topics like this, but we really need to get back to business."

"Oh certainly, dear. I don't want to take up your time."

"Judging from my notes, you're the victim's sister-in-law, correct?" Ema asked.

"Yes, I am. We'll need to join in the investigation, as the defendant requested for my services."

"Who's 'we'?"

"This young lady here," Cybil gestured to Dona. "Her name's Dona DiPrima, and she's my final intern from Themis."

"… A kid at a crime scene? I've been seeing too many of those lately. But I guess I can't complain too much, since I was about her age when I was at my first crime scene. I trust that she won't cause any trouble for the investigators, right?"

"Oh, you're being too blunt, detective. Dona is a very responsible and tactful young lady. She'll be writing the notes for me since I have arthritis in my hands."

Dona bowed and said, "I will be sure not to cause any disturbances for you and your team, Detective Skye. I must also maintain a degree of professionalism if I am to represent Themis as one of its senior students. If needed, I can remain under your supervision during the investigation."

"Oh… Well, you don't need to be so formal," Ema muttered. "Just stay out of the way and you'll do fine."

"Very good!" Cybil clapped her hands together. "Now that we're all settled in, can you bring us up to speed about what happened here? We spoke with the lady who called 9-1-1, but we're not familiar with the investigation details. I understand that Forst's body has been taken to the morgue already, so you must have taken plenty of good photos already."

"Yeah, we have. Here," the detective showed them a collection of photographs detailing the state of the body. They depicted a man in his late 60s or early 70s lying in his bed, which had its covers and sheets burnt to a singed black. The body had also been violently burned and almost unrecognizable had it not been for dental records confirming his identity.

"What a tragic way to die," Cybil shook her head in disappointment. "Poor Forst… My husband was especially close to him as his younger brother."

"Oh, speaking of Dr. Impressa-" Dona began, but then an officer walked in on them and reported to the attorney, "Mrs. Impressa? Sorry to interrupt you, but Dr. Impressa is here and wants to speak with you."

"He just got here?" Cybil asked.

"Yes, he did. When he heard that you were defending the suspect, he came straight away from the hospital."

Dona peered through the open front doors and saw an older man with features suggesting he originated from an Oriental country.

 _He was just parked near Themis earlier, and yet he came from the hospital? Maybe I had the wrong person… No, that can't be it. The license plate was the same…_

"Oh, fantastic! Maybe he'll have more information about what the coroners have found out! I have to have a chat with my husband, so if you could take a look around and take good notes, that'd be great!" Cybil instructed Dona before running outside, leaving the dumbfounded student pointlessly stretching her arm out.

 _Geez… What happened to ensuring I don't push myself too hard? Bertie's not going to like hearing about this when I get home._

"Well that just complicates things," Ema grumbled while munching some Snackoos. "I'm not in the habit of babysitting students at a murder scene."

"I'm sorry for the trouble. I'm sure the nature of this case has thrown Mrs. Impressa into a frenzy. This is her brother-in-law we're talking about here," Dona apologized. "So on that note, what makes you certain that this is the scene of a murder rather than an accident?"

"… Oh. Did I say that?"

"Yes, you did. Just now, in fact."

"I meant to say that this is the scene of someone's death."

"But you said 'murder' so callously, as if it was an established fact. And Mrs. Impressa and I wouldn't be here in the first place if she didn't have a client to defend."

"Hmm… I guess so…" the detective muttered. "Fine, here's what I think - scientifically, of course. The autopsy's not done yet, but the initial coroner did a quick check of the victim's airway passages and didn't find any soot."

"Nothing? Even though he died from the fire?" Dona raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, it's obvious that wasn't the cause of death. If it was, there'd be plenty of telltale signs such as reddened eyes, soot in the nostrils and mouth, and signs of the victim struggling to escape. The initial coroner couldn't find anything of the sort. You saw in the photos that the victim was lying on his bed beneath his bed covers. He made no attempt to get out of that bed and run."

"So you're suggesting that the victim died before the fire, meaning he couldn't have committed arson."

"Right. The real purpose of that fire was for the culprit to eliminate any evidence of their crime. The only one who was home this whole time was his in-home caregiver, Nurse Nye Eve."

"So she's being treated as the prime suspect."

"Yep. But we need to eliminate the possibility of arson anyway, which is why we're combing the place for any sort of trigger that could have been used outside the bedroom, like an igniter, a switch, or some kind of set-up," Ema explained, gesturing to the forensics officers.

"Okay," Dona acknowledged with a nod. "Still, you sound really confident that Ms. Eve was a killer in the first place."

"How else can you explain this situation!?" Ema grumbled in annoyance. "The victim dies, and then his room lights up in a blaze! If that's not suspicious, I don't know what is!"

"He could have died from natural causes."

"Oh, so the guy has a heart attack, and then something coincidentally shorts out in his room and causes a fire? How convenient… And anticlimactic."

 _Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but she doesn't need to be so grumpy about it._

"All I know of the victim is that he wasn't a man of good health, so that sort of death is always a possibility," Dona said.

" _Anything_ is a possibility until we get the autopsy report in. The body also had fourth degree burns, so we'll be lucky if we can get any solid leads from that," Ema shrugged.

"You're right. We could argue this all day and not get anywhere. I suppose the only thing we can focus on is how the fire started."

The detective adjusted the bright pink sunglasses on her head and smirked, "The only facts I believe in are the ones derived from science!"

"Um… So how does a homicide detective go about investigating an arson case using 'science'?" the student wondered.

"Glad you asked!" Ema grinned with the glee of a child at an amusement park. "There are some factors that we _can_ analyze in the meantime. First of all, I want to determine if anything in the victim's room was flammable and if they promoted the spreading of the fire. Next, I want to analyze the structure of the house itself. Lastly, I want to put those factors together and search for a trigger that our killer could have used."

"What do you mean by a 'trigger'?"

"Something that's responsible for starting a fire. It could be a lit cigarette, an electrical short causing sparks, a lightning strike, used matches, or even some kind of elaborate trick!"

 _I think she's most enthusiastic about finding the 'elaborate trick' type of trigger…_

"So our first stop is the victim's room, where the blaze was contained," Ema adjusted her glasses.

* * *

 **October 19, 2031**

 **4:00 P.M.**

 **Crime Scene - Bedroom**

The student and the detective approached Forst Impressa's bedroom, where two men worked diligently to examine every detail of the scene. The room was 10x10 feet in size, so it wasn't very accommodating for the examiners to do their work. The two women had little choice but to stay outside so they wouldn't get in the way. In the nearly burnt out room, there was the afflicted bed in one corner, a small table with the remains of a lamp, a closet on the opposite side, and a worn out reading chair with an ottoman that clearly needed replacing – and not because of the fire.

"Geez… No matter how many times I see the damage here, I still can't help but think it could have been much worse," Ema remarked.

"So you wanted to find anything that could have been flammable in here," Dona summarized.

"Yeah. Hey, have you guys found anything of the sort?"

One forensic technician saluted his superior and reported, "There have been several signs found. We've collected what was on the body, and we noticed that there were cigarettes in his pants pocket."

He gave her an evidence bag containing a package of opened cigarettes. The label read 'Oldport 24', and had enough space for 24 cigarettes. Curiously, two were missing.

"Well, there's one potential trigger," Ema folded her arms. "Two have been used up too. It's a common theme for fires to start because of careless smoking. Someone lights one up, then falls asleep while it's still burning. Poof! Instant fire hazard!"

Dona said, "Our culprit could have lit the two missing cigarettes up and left them sitting on the bedding for them to burn up. But the victim died before the fire started, so there's no way for the whole 'sleeping while smoking' scenario to be possible in the first place."

"In addition to what Ms. DiPrima said," the officer added, "We examined the sheets and found no traces of any cigarettes that could have been used as the trigger. The ones in the package were relatively undisturbed since they were found on the victim's back pocket, so it didn't get a lot of exposure to the fire."

"Do you guys know where the missing two cigarettes are?" Ema asked.

"We've been confined in here for the last while, and we haven't found them yet. We had noticed some ash trays throughout the house earlier, so maybe they've been extinguished in one of those."

"I see…" she muttered, then shrugged. "Well, I figured that was too easy."

"I still don't understand what the point of burning up this room is in the first place," Dona shook her head. "Regardless of what the trigger is, there's no way the culprit can get around the fact that the victim died prior to the fire starting, meaning that someone other than the victim caused the blaze to happen. The culprit is just asking for suspicion to fall upon them."

"Hey, you're not exactly helping your case here, you know," Ema frowned.

"I know. It just feels so roundabout and unnecessary, as if the culprit wanted to be caught."

 _Or it could be someone trying to frame Ms. Eve… But I can't jump to conclusions just yet. I don't have enough information yet before proposing my idea._

While Dona was lost in thought, Ema asked the officer, "Did you find any other potential triggers?"

"Well, there is this lamp," the man pointed to the night stand where the all-but-destroyed desk lamp stood. "The glass bulb had shattered as a result of the fire, but its internal components are relatively intact. I couldn't find any signs of a short circuit or sparks coming from the bulb or the wiring. However, we found the remnants of a magazine plus embers caused by loose papers. At this time, we can't be sure if they contributed to the fire or were simply caught in it."

He showed them the magazine in an evidence bag. From what they could see, it was a fairly thick book written in Chinese, with the edition number '46' emblazoned on the binding.

"Papers around a lamp that had no problems with it…" the detective pondered. "It's hard to tell if there's a connection or not…"

"The worst of the fire was contained to the bed, night stand, lamp, window, and opposing dresser. The door, chair and ottoman have some damage, but not nearly as much as these items. As a forensic investigator, I firmly believe that the fire originated from this side of the room and was extinguished by the fire team before it could spread further."

"Their response was most fortuitous," Dona agreed. "If they had been too late, it would have been impossible to determine the origin and localize the search to that spot."

"Hmm…" Ema scratched her chin.

"Is something the matter, detective?"

"Well, it's convenient that we can narrow the search, but our culprit really did a good job of not leaving any obvious traces behind. Maybe they knew what to take advantage of to maximize their ability to destroy evidence. That's partly why we arrested that nurse, since she's familiar with the layout of the house."

"Are you saying that because the fire was so potent in here, she would have known what materials to use to cause the most damage?"

"Ah!" the detective's eyes widened with enthusiasm. "If we can't find the trigger in here, perhaps there was an external trigger she could have used! Then she could have gathered whatever flammable materials she could find, placed them in here in a way that they wouldn't look suspicious, killed the guy, and then set the fire!"

"Let's not say if she 'gathered these materials' until Dr. Impressa is questioned. For all we know, everything in this house could have been here for years, if not decades. Mrs. Smith told me that Ms. Eve started working here about two years ago, so I can't imagine her being familiar with everything from top to bottom."

"Well, you get my drift. All I'm saying is that she had to have known what materials in here were flammable and take advantage of them. Even just standing in here for five minutes tells me everything about what how dangerous this room really is!"

"What do you mean by that?" Dona wondered.

"Take a look at this," Ema pointed to the blankets. "These are cotton fleece, which is known to have a high combustibility rate. Those curtains? Cheap linen, also known to combust easily. Then we've got an old wooden table and dresser, and a magazine sitting around. I've been told by neighbors that this is a really old house too, so I wouldn't be surprised if the infrastructure itself contributed to the fire's potency."

"Can you determine such damage right now, or would it require a detailed investigation?"

"Hmm, hmm! Thanks to the power of science, it's possible to closely examine wood and extract its entire history from it! All I need is a sample of unburned wood from the infrastructure and put it to the test!"

* * *

 **October 19, 2031**

 **4:20 P.M.**

 **Crime Scene - Backyard**

The duo left the bedroom and went outside to the back where they could find any samples of wood from the house. After some poking around, Ema found an opening on the side of the house where rats could get in and out, and she stuck her hand in to try and find any wood. To her surprise, a small chunk broke right off with little effort.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought," she remarked, observing the rotten wood with excitement.

Dona raised her eyebrows and uttered, " _That's_ from the structure?"

"Sure is. Let me take a good look at it."

Ema lowered her pink sunglasses and used a microscope she had on hand to analyze the piece of wood. She suddenly uttered, "Why, hello there."

"What's the matter?"

"Just found a few termites. Not only is the wood very dry, it's also incredibly infested."

 _I'm almost afraid to ask, but here goes…_ Dona thought before asking, "When was this house built anyway?"

"Judging by the age and composition of the wood as well as termite damage, I'd say it's about 75 years old."

"You can't be serious… And they never did any upgrades?"

"Doesn't look like it. With this kind of structural damage, it's a miracle that old woman called the fire department before the blaze could spread to the rest of the place."

 _Mrs. Smith wasn't kidding when she said this house should just be torn down! I'm almost afraid of the whole thing collapsing on us!_

"What's the matter? You're suddenly looking pale there," Ema asked.

"Oh, uh... It's nothing. So is this evidence that the house itself is a fire hazard?"

"This place is barely up to code. You could call it little more than a basic shack disguised as a modern house. With all of the pests, weed overgrowth and rotting wood going on here, the house being a fire hazard should be the least of this neighborhood's worries. How the victim refused to live anywhere but here is beyond me."

 _This isn't looking good for Mrs. Impressa's client. Any arsonist with half a brain would immediately see this kind of damage as fuel to add to their fire, and Ms. Eve's been working here for two years._

Aloud, Dona asked, "So now that we've verified that the house is a hazard and that the possibility of an external trigger exists, what do we do now?"

"What else? We gotta ask the boys and see if they found anything outside of the bedroom," the detective smirked.

"What kinds of external triggers can be used?"

"I was involved in one case where an igniter was used to light up a certain someone's guitar. If I still had that footage, I'd replay it over and over again just to get a good laugh after a bad day at work. Oh well, that's what memories are for."

"Igniters can be set off manually using a switch, right?"

"Exactly. They're supposed to be used by scientists for testing the flammability of certain products and by law enforcement for recreating the scene of a fire, but they've also been a real hit with arsonists, if you get my point."

"You mean they're easy to get?"

"Hmm… I wouldn't say 'easy' as in you can go on a website and buy one there. But if you had the right connections and enough money, you can buy any kind of illegal contraband. Word around the grapevine is that there's a _huge_ international black market cabal that can get you anything you want if you cough up the dough, and some of our detectives have been working nonstop on that case for years."

Dona shuffled her feet while thinking, _I'm praying that the forensic team doesn't find any sort of illegal tools like that. But with the way this investigation is turning out, it may be the only possibility we have left._

"But I digress," Ema stopped herself with a shrug. "We should focus on finding evidence of such things. Let's go to the laundry room since the breaker is located there as well as the ladder to the attic. I've sent a guy up there to see if the wiring wasn't tampered with."

"If the wood wasn't refurbished in 75 years, I'm almost frightened of what standards they had for electrical engineering back in the day," Dona mumbled.

* * *

 **October 19, 2031**

 **4:30 P.M.**

 **Crime Scene – Laundry Room**

Just as Ema and Dona entered the cramped laundry room, the officer in question climbed down a ladder from the attic. In his grasp was a plastic bag with a hideous mishmash of thin metal cords and black rubber coverings. Ema exclaimed, "Hey, did you find something!?"

"Yes, ma'am. I just finished examining the wiring and, well… I stumbled across this lovely example of 1950s engineering."

The two women stared at the _thing_ in the plastic bag with such flat astonishment that it was downright comical. The detective muttered, "Dare I ask what this monstrosity is supposed to be?"

"It's the main circuit line for the whole place. One more lightning strike and we'd have had a real accident on our hands."

"More like a case of gross negligence! Doesn't this house belong to a well-respected pharmacist!? He should know better than that! Just… _unbelievable!_ "

Dona interrupted Ema's spaz attack by deducing, "All that aside, even though the wiring was installed poorly and not well maintained, it's still nowhere near the bedroom. Can I assume that there weren't any signs of an external trigger in the attic, officer?"

"There were some melted wires and chewing marks from rats, but nothing indicating that the fire originated from there and traveled to the bedroom," the man reported.

"So the attic is clean…"

Ema became so agitated that she needed one of her patented 'snack breaks', and she munched her Snackoos loud enough for everyone to hear. Dona sighed and suggested, "Let's ask everyone first before giving in to the munchies, detective."

"I know, I know. This is just… Ugh! If the boys don't find anything, then we're back to the bedroom!"

"That might not be such a bad thing. It'll help tremendously in narrowing down our options."

"I don't know how 'helpful' it'll be for you, Ms. DriPrima. If you don't find anything suggesting that someone other than Mrs. Impressa's client could have done this, then your case will be stuck on a fork before the trial begins!"

"If Nurse Eve proclaims she's innocent, then I'll just have to work harder than ever to find evidence supporting her."

"Man, you're cool as a cucumber, aren't you?"

"I've been told that a few times," Dona shrugged.


	2. Turnabout Apprentice - 2

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Investigation: Part 2**

 **October 19, 2031**

 **4:45 P.M.**

 **Crime Scene – Front Entrance**

Dona and Ema traversed the rest of the house asking the other officers if they had found anything unnatural. To their disappointment, no one had found any sort of suspicious tool or device that could have been used to set the fire remotely. Despite the house's terrible living conditions, the wiring along the rest of the place hadn't been tampered with or destroyed.

"So it's not a case of the blaze starting in one place and spreading to another, or the fire purposely being set in the bedroom with some kind of device from a remote location. If nothing else in the house was affected, it means that it really was started and localized in the bedroom," Dona summarized.

"Arrgh! The trigger _has_ to be in there! I just know it!" Ema exclaimed. "The boys had to have overlooked something!"

While they stood outside pondering this mystery, Cybil and her husband, Dr. Lude Impressa, approached them. The senior attorney asked her intern, "How goes the investigation?"

"We've made some progress, but we seem to have hit a dead end," Dona said, explaining everything they had found in a concise overview.

"I see, I see…" Cybil nodded. "So the bedroom is the only source of the fire…"

"Hey, Dr. Impressa!" Ema exclaimed accusingly at the sharp-eyed Oriental man. "Do you have any idea how out-of-code this place is!? It should be considered a felony!"

"Don't look at me, lady," Lude grumbled. "Forst and I grew up here, and he inherited it from our folks when they died. He was the one insisting on keeping it the way it is, being all mentally handicapped and not in his right mind. I, of course, moved out the first opportunity I got, but Forst wanted me to stick around and take care of him. The guy didn't want to grow up and become a man, you see. I had a career to pursue though, so I hired some people to stay with him so he didn't get into any trouble."

"So Ms. Eve wasn't the first caretaker in your employ?" Dona asked.

"Of course not. I've had many people quit on me over the years. I've had to go through Ms. Eve's nursing agency and convince them to send someone over multiple times. With my career, my wife's work, and all of the problems my brother caused me, you think the condition of a house would be at the top of my priority list?"

"I suppose not."

Ema interjected, "That's still no excuse! This house is infested with termites and rats, the wiring is still from the 1950s, and there are flammable materials everywhere! You could have put the neighbors in extreme danger if a real fire had broken out!"

"Well that didn't happen, so the neighbors are not in danger," Lude practically rolled his eyes. "Besides, now that Forst is dead, I'm gonna have this place torn down and the property sold. New folks will come in, build a house from scratch that's up to code, and everyone will be happy. End of story."

"Hmph…" the detective grumbled and ate some more snacks to calm down.

"So," Dona interrupted the debate as she addressed Cybil. "What were you discussing about with Dr. Impressa for so long?"

"Oh, dear. Had it been for a long time?" the older woman wondered.

"About a whole hour."

Cybil checked her watch, then chuckled in embarrassment. "My goodness, how time flies! Lude and I had so much to talk about that I must have lost track! I'm sorry for leaving you with the detective for so long!"

"I don't mind, but what did you two talk about?"

"Well, Lude came from the morgue and gave me the autopsy report. I also wanted to get his alibi for the time of the crime."

"Whoa! The autopsy report's already done!?" Ema exclaimed.

"Don't underestimate me, missy," Lude muttered. "I may not be a coroner anymore, but I still have good ties with the medical examiners there. They know how to get things done fast, especially with burn victims."

"I've taken a good look at it, but you still need to see it, Dona," Cybil said, handing the papers over to her subordinate. The student carefully read the report to make sure she didn't miss anything. So far, everything looked right; the victim had no soot in his airways and had suffered fourth degree burns postmortem. One interesting thing caught her eye right away though:

" _Cause of death: Brain death resulting from severe hypoglycemia."_

 _Hypoglycemia is another term for low blood sugar…_ she recalled, then asked, "Did Forst have diabetes by any chance?"

"Yeah, he did," Lude replied. "Type 1, in fact. He had to take carefully regulated amounts of insulin his whole life. After I became a pharmacist and opened shop across town, I took on the responsibility of filling his insulin pens due to how sensitive his diabetes was, and because he had a mental disorder that could have made him overdose if he took the injections himself. I was telling Cybil that Ms. Eve must have murdered Forst by injecting him with excess amounts of insulin, leading to brain death. Then she set the fire to eliminate any evidence of her crime."

"But Detective Skye and I didn't find any evidence of someone purposely setting a fire in that room."

"Not _yet_ , anyway. Speaking of which, shouldn't the young missy be investigating that right now instead of gorging on junk food and getting mad at me?"

"Taking statements is part of my job too!" Ema countered with a smug grin. "I'm well-versed in the state of this house, but I know next to nothing about the victim and the culprit. That's why I need to ask you some questions, Doctor."

"Huh… Fine, knock yourself out. It isn't like I have much to offer. I pretty much told everything I can to Cybil anyway."

"Okay, then! So if we pretend that your scenario is true, then what motive does Ms. Eve have for killing Forst?"

Lude scoffed, "That's an easy one. You know about my brother's personality, right?"

"I heard from someone that he would commit a variety of misdemeanors throughout the neighborhood, and that he wasn't very well liked because of that," Dona said.

"Right. In particular, he liked to hassle women with cat calls, grab inappropriately, peep through windows, and steal women's undergarments. The neighbors could complain all they wanted, but he'd just hide behind the excuse of being 'mentally deficient'. The majority of his previous nurses were men for that reason, but the agency couldn't find another guy to replace the one who quit, so they had to send a woman. Not just your average lady nurse either – Ms. Eve was young and inexperienced, which made her the perfect target for Forst's lechery."

"So you're suggesting that something happened between Forst and Ms. Eve to make her want to kill him?"

"I'm not saying anything conclusively because this is all just hearsay, and word of mouth doesn't do much good for a legal case. I didn't involve myself with his troublemaking activities since I'm too busy with my work to pick up after him. If you want to know more, I suggest you and Cybil go to the detention center and talk to her directly."

Ema nodded, then asked, "Where were you during the crime?"

"Well…" Lude shifted his eyes toward the sky as if thinking what to say next. "As I'm a part-time scrub tech, I was in the operating room all morning. I worked from about 7:00 AM until 11:00 AM, at which time I cleaned up and had lunch. Then I had to come here real quick at about noon to drop off Forst's renewed prescription of insulin. Like I said, I handle the ordering and filling of the pens with the necessary prescription, and then bring a month's worth of injections here every 19th of the month."

"What do you mean by 'pens', Doctor?" Dona asked.

"Insulin pens. You haven't heard of them?"

"I'm afraid I'm not familiar about what's involved with treating diabetes."

"Figures. Basically, they're pre-filled syringes shaped like pens that hospitals and pharmacies can provide for patients if they're not able to measure their insulin doses on their own. Since Forst was mentally handicapped and his caretakers kept quitting left and right, I had to prep those kind of pens to make sure his insulin levels were correct. If I didn't, he may have measured too little or too much, and insulin can be a nasty beast if not taken properly. That autopsy report is proof enough of what happens."

"I see. So you brought the pens here at 12:00 PM. How long did you stay for?"

"About five minutes," Lude replied. "I just stuck around long enough for Ms. Eve to verify the delivery and ensure that the prescription was correct."

"Did you see Forst during your visit?"

"Not like I wanted to… But he was in the lounge smoking one of his stink sticks when I passed by. His eyes were glued to one of those top-shelf magazines, so he didn't even pay attention to me."

"Okay," Dona nodded. "So how about after you visited?"

"I was out running other medication deliveries. Plenty of old folks in this town can't get it themselves, so my pharmacy provides a delivery service. But I'm a tad shorthanded until I hire some new kids, so I had to make the rounds myself today. If you doubt my alibi during the crime, you can always call those folks and have them verify that I stopped by and had them sign the papers."

"But what about Ms. Eve's alibi? Can we be sure that she was here the entire time?" Dona asked.

"I don't even know why this question is being brought up," Lude muttered.

"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss, dear," Cybil chided her husband. "The nurse has to call the nursing agency on a regular basis to show that they're at their posts. In addition, the agency provides their employees with GPS tracking to make sure they don't leave their clients alone for extended periods of time. Any sort of outing or errand running that's done needs to be verified with the agency. They've had some hefty lawsuits over elderly abuse and negligence in the past, so they're taking many extra precautions to make sure their employees are corroborating their locations with what the GPS is telling the agency."

"So even if Ms. Eve only called the agency for less than a minute to verify her location, she still has the GPS device tracking her movements," Dona said. "What happens if she removes it?"

"If the signal doesn't move for an extended period of time, the agency will send someone over to check. If it's shown that she removed it without their knowledge, then she's fired. But there are other instances such as illness or a fall that can occur to the nurses."

"Is it possible for the nurse to give the GPS device to someone else to masquerade as them while on the job?"

"Yes, it's entirely possible. That's why the phone calls are necessary, as well as detailed logs of medications and caretaking duties. The system may not be perfect, but a nurse would be extremely hard pressed to wriggle out of their job while on the clock."

"When did Ms. Eve make her usual follow-up calls to the agency?"

Cybil scratched her chin for a moment, then replied, "She was on a 12/7 shift, and she needed to call every four to five hours during the day."

"When did she make the first call to let them know she was awake?"

"About 9:00 AM, since she needed to give Forst his insulin and morning medications."

"So about four to five hours later would be 1:00 or 2:00 PM… Which is around the time of the fire."

"Yes, it is. And just to be sure, I called the agency to see if she had made her second call today, and they verified that she had made the call from this very location."

"Hm…" the student sighed. "This isn't looking good for Ms. Eve. She was home when Forst died and the fire had broken out…"

"Chin up, Dona! Even if it doesn't look good now, we still have a lot of work ahead of us! If we have a 'true culprit', they could have researched her schedule and found a loophole to take advantage of!"

"Sounds like wishful thinking, if you ask me," Lude grumbled. "I really think you should give this one up, Cybil. You don't need to pressure yourself to defend a client that's obviously guilty."

"You don't need to worry about me so much, dear."

"If worst comes to worst, you could always convince her to plead guilty instead."

"Even if I am ready to retire, I can't make an income telling innocent people to give up their case. Defense attorneys are hired to defend, not to tell people to quit trying."

Dona thought sourly, _How in the world did this optimistic woman stay married to such a pessimistic man for over 40 years?_

"Well, suit yourself, Cybil," Lude shrugged. "I've brought the autopsy report and made my statement to the detective. I don't see why I need to stick around, since my alibi is perfect."

Ema folded her arms and said, "Mr. Payne may need to call upon you as a witness for tomorrow's trial."

"Huh? What else do I need to testify about?"

"Nothing new, really. You'd just be repeating what you said here, plus the court may want to know more about Forst's behavior and activities in establishing Ms. Eve's motive."

"Well, if you say it like that, then I have no problem dragging out Forst's dirty laundry if it means getting a criminal convicted."

Cybil suddenly became determined as she declared, "You better watch out, dear! Even if you are my husband, I'll cross-examine you until you cry uncle!"

"No one is safe on the witness stand as far as you're concerned, huh?"

"It's for the sake of finding out the truth!"

"If you say so…"

Dona read over her notes again before saying, "I think we've found everything that we can here, Mrs. Impressa. We still need to talk to the defendant before visiting hours are over."

"Splendid! I have some questions I would like to ask Ms. Eve myself," Cybil nodded.

"The only thing I'm hoping she can answer for me is how the fire could have started when it was impossible for Forst to have done so. The autopsy report says that he died anywhere between 1:00 and 1:30 PM, even though it was difficult to discern that from how badly burned the body was. Even so, we can narrow the gap thanks to Dr. Impressa's testimony that he saw his brother reading magazines at noon, so we have an hour and a half gap there.

"And then according to Mrs. Smith's statement, she called the fire department at 1:45 PM when she noticed smoke rising from here. Since Forst died before the fire, it would have given the killer about a 15- to 45-minute window to commit arson if you account for preparation time. But so far, Detective Skye and I haven't found any clues related to any deliberate triggers or accidental shortages. The only thing we know for sure is that it originated and was contained to the bedroom."

"Well don't be too puzzled just yet," Ema said. "We still haven't finished up here, but we're stuck in a process of elimination. Someone from arson should be coming to help out soon as well."

"Why didn't you bring such a detective with you in the first place?"

"Don't look at me. The department's been in a scramble ever since the coroner initially reported the victim not having soot in his airways. We originally learned that the victim was a habitual smoker, so the upper brass must have chalked it up to the whole 'sleeping while smoking' theory and dismissed it as an accidental death. With the coroner's report, not only did we have arson, but also a possible homicide."

"They certainly were quick to draw conclusions about this being a homicide. He could have died from natural causes. Then there wouldn't have been a need to send a homicide detective here to begin with."

"Yeah, well, with the condition of the body, they didn't want to take any chances. I'm pretty much here to make sure we really had a murder instead of an accidental death. Like I said, we're stuck in a process of elimination thanks to that stupid misunderstanding."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense…" Dona murmured. "But then, what does all of this have to do with Ms. Eve anyway? Why did you arrest her for this crime?"

"We originally arrested her for the arson, not the murder," Ema clarified. "Since she was here the whole time, she would have had the opportunity to set the fire during that 45-minute window you mentioned. But now with the discovery of the autopsy report stating severe hypoglycemia and the victim's burns being caused postmortem, she's being detained as the murderer as well. Ms. Eve was the one solely responsible for giving Forst his injections, so she had the opportunity to commit the crime.

"Our theory at this point is that sometime between 12:00 PM and 1:30 PM, the nurse gave the victim his first insulin shot while he was awake. Then he went to take a nap, and that's when she gave him the second dose that caused his blood sugar to fatally drop, causing his death. She knew the police would look for multiple injection sites, which motivated her to cause the fire in order to hide those puncture wounds."

"Where was Ms. Eve when the fire department arrived?"

"She was outside frantically calling the police for help."

"Hmm…" Cybil scratched her chin. "So that's going to be the prosecution's argument, hm? Even though it's a sound theory, it's still highly circumstantial, dear."

"With the damage the fire caused, it might be all we have," Ema muttered. "Even if you can prove that she didn't set the fire, there's still the murder before that. Both the scene and the body are burnt beyond recognition. That's why I'm eagerly awaiting for someone from arson to get their butt over here and solve this for us. This really isn't my type of investigation after all."

"Well, that's understandable. The precinct has been short-staffed due to the number of retirees lately," the attorney smiled, then wiggled her finger. "But anyway, perhaps there's one thing about the fire I can suggest for you to look at in the meantime."

"Really? What would that be?"

"Spontaneous combustion!"

Everyone else stared at Cybil with blank gazes.

"Come on, have a little imagination!" she argued. "If there's no sign of arson or an accidental fire, that has to be the only possible explanation!"

"Mrs. Impressa…" Dona murmured while rubbing her forehead. "With all due respect, do you really wish to build our case around such a flimsy controversy?"

"Of course I don't, dear. But the truth is that we have a fire on our hands, and all fires have to be set one way or another. You said that it was contained to the bed, night stand, window and dresser, so if it's true that Forst combusted for one reason or another, it can explain why such a powerful blaze was kept to such a minimal area!"

"Cybil," Lude stopped his wife from continuing her wild fantasy. "Perhaps you should consider retiring earlier than planned."

"Oh, not you too, honey!"

Dona stopped them and said, "Let's just go to the detention center and get Ms. Eve's story. It's still early in the investigation, so the police should be able to figure everything out in time for the trial tomorrow."

"All right. Sorry, Lude, but we need to get going. Do you need to go back to the hospital?"

"No, I have to go to the Prosecutor's Office," the doctor replied. "This investigation's side-swiped me from the pharmacy, but Mr. Payne was insistent on talking with me personally."

"Okay, then! Be sure not to let the little man get your blood pressure up!"

As Cybil and Lude went ahead of them, Dona said to Ema, "Good luck with the investigation, Detective Skye. Will Mrs. Impressa and I be updated on any new findings during the trial?"

"Yeah, I'll be sure to find something conclusive for you. Or at least, something better than your boss' wild theory."

"I don't think she would appreciate the downvote of confidence, but I know that wouldn't be accepted in court."

"Hah hah, you got that right!" Ema laughed. "You better get going then, Ms. DiPrima."

"Yes. If you'll excuse me…"


	3. Turnabout Apprentice - 3

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Investigation: Part 3**

 **October 19, 2031**

 **5:45 P.M.**

 **Detention Center**

Dona went with Cybil in the attorney's car to the detention center where Nye Eve was being detained for questioning. As they waited in the lobby for their turn to speak with her, Dona said to her mentor, "This sure is taking a while."

"It can't be helped. Like the good detective said, the more the police find out about this case, the more confused they get. I'm willing to bet that the trial will be extended for the second allowed day due to the lack of concrete evidence. If we want to finish this tomorrow, our arguments will have to ride on what Detective Skye reports and what Lude testifies about."

"Hm… Before I forget, there was something I wanted to ask you about your husband."

"What would that be, dear?"

"When I was on my way to the crime scene after your call, I noticed his car parked northbound on Themis Avenue. Is there any reason why he would have it parked there when he should have been at the hospital for his duties?"

"Northbound on Themis Ave.? Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Cybil looked perplexed. "That's nowhere near his pharmacy or the hospital."

"I thought I was wrong, but it was a purple Porsche with the license plate 'L-IMPRESS'. There's no way such an unorthodox vehicle could belong to anyone but him."

"What time was this again?"

"About 3:30 this afternoon. I can draw a diagram of my route if you want."

Dona sketched her path from Themis Legal Academy to Forst's house, and even connected it to Impressa & Co. Law Office where she interned. She marked where she witnessed the Porsche, and Cybil's brow furrowed in curiosity.

"What an odd place for him to be at…" she murmured.

"Is something wrong with this?"

"There are a few businesses and food vendors near your school as well as the Square Center Mall, but I don't think Lude would have any reason to be there, even for medication deliveries. He's told me that he's not very familiar with that part of town, and he's a slave to routine. If there's a route he uses, he will stick with it no matter what."

"Can you think of any reason why he would break his routine and be at an unfamiliar place during his work hours?" Dona asked.

"Well…" Cybil scratched her head and thought for a minute. "There's the possibility of him delivering medication to an unfamiliar patient. If there was someone in that area who needed such a delivery, then I'm not familiar with it. The only one I'm familiar with that he did that for was Forst."

"That makes sense. He must have been requested by someone he had never met before."

"But he doesn't know the area around Themis that well…"

"Then maybe it was his very first time delivering to that client."

"Oh, you could be right, dear! Oh, but then…"

"What's the matter?" Dona asked, noting the attorney's sudden drop in enthusiasm.

"When I met up with Lude at the crime scene, he said that he got the call at the hospital about his brother's death and brought the autopsy report with him on the coroner's behalf."

"When was this?"

"Right when we parted ways in the house, which was at 3:45."

"So I saw his car on Themis Ave. at 3:30, and you spoke with him 15 minutes later when he arrived."

Cybil pressed her fingers against her head and murmured, "That can't be right."

"Why isn't that right?" Dona leaned in, growing concerned about this distressing atmosphere.

"It takes 30 minutes to drive from the hospital to Forst's house, and another 30 to drive back. If you saw his car near your school at 3:30, he would have to drive back to the hospital, get the report, and then come back. When you do the math, Lude and I should have met up at about 4:30 for his story to work!"

Both of them fell silent for a moment, wondering what all of this implied. Dona read the autopsy report that they received from Lude and suggested grimly, "If it was impossible for Dr. Impressa to have the time to go to the hospital to get the autopsy report… Then how authentic is this supposed to be?"

"Oh, dear…" Cybil moaned. "Could my Lude have really fabricated this piece of evidence…?"

"Let's think about this for a moment. Perhaps there's an alternate solution that we haven't come across yet."

"Such as?"

"Let's say for the sake of argument that Forst died at 1:30, and the fire department was called at 1:45. When I arrived on the scene at 3:30, Mrs. Smith told me that the body had already been sent to the hospital at 2:25."

"That's still hardly any time to write a proper autopsy report!"

"I'm not finished yet. Coroners don't really need that much time to examine the body, so let's say it took him ten minutes and he finished at 2:25. With the police in a state of confusion, it's only natural that they request the coroner to do his job in a rushed manner, so to speak. The coroner then drove back to the hospital, which then made it 2:55 for him to write his initial report. Your husband, who was out in town doing his deliveries, then learned about the case and returned to the scene from the hospital with the report at 3:45 when you spoke with him, all to expedite the process of sending the report to the investigating police. Although I saw his car parked on Themis Ave. at 3:30, there's a chance he could have used an alternate route to make the delivery as speedy as possible. There _are_ parking meters on that street, after all, and there was still time on his meter."

"Oh… Yes, that is a plausible theory, although it's a serious time crunch for it to be believable," Cybil nodded. "But that doesn't explain why he was parked all the way over on Themis Ave. to begin with. That's an entire ten minute walk, maybe a little less if he was running. But when I talked with him, he didn't seem out of breath at all. On top of that, he was parked northbound right at the corner of Themis and Square Way. Since he has no business in the southern area of town, it tells me that he had to get to Themis either eastbound or westbound on Square Way. Turning onto Themis either way would make him southbound. So why would he turn right around and park northbound when he could just park southbound?"

"Maybe he just got lost," Dona shrugged.

"Even if you say that, there's no reason for him to park at Themis anyway! Forst's house is close enough for him to park there!"

"The police were cordoning the area off, remember? Even I had a hard time looking for a good spot to park."

"But he had the autopsy report, and the police wanted it stat! There's just no time for him to be doing all of this running around for this to work!"

Dona could understand why her mentor was frantic about figuring out the doctor's movements and reasoning behind it. Neither of them wanted to believe that a respected doctor would fabricate an autopsy report.

 _Suddenly, I feel bad about mentioning the location of Dr. Impressa's car to her. It's opened up a bunch of detrimental possibilities that she doesn't want to think about. But if it's impossible for him to have brought the report in the time span that he did using my scenario, then perhaps another one needs to be considered._

"Mrs. Impressa? Could I try offering a different explanation?" Dona asked.

"Go ahead, dear. Our client seems to be taking quite a while with the police, and I want to clear up these doubts as soon as I can so I can focus on talking with her."

"All right. Maybe this one will be more believable. It's based off of what I saw here in the autopsy report."

They took another look at the documents, and Dona pointed out what she was talking about. "I'm referring to the signature of the coroner who was present at the initial investigation."

"Hmm? What is this supposed to be…? Doctors have such funny handwriting that I think they're using some kind of alien language," Cybil squinted and brought the paper right in front of her nose. "Wait a moment… I hadn't thought about it when I first got this, but the handwriting actually looks quite familiar. Why, I believe it's Lude's! Then are you suggesting that-!?"

"I am. Dr. Impressa would have had enough time to write this report… _if_ _ **he**_ _was the coroner at the initial investigation!_ "

"My goodness!" the attorney squawked incredulously. "What in the nine Hells are you going on about, Dona!? Lude doesn't work in the morgue anymore! He left the hospital to start his pharmacy years ago! The only involvement he still has with the hospital is as a part-time surgical technician!"

"True, he may not _work_ as a coroner anymore, but does that mean his _experience_ as one is completely moot?"

"No, I suppose not, dear. And with the way the police were so desperate for answers…"

"So let's rewrite the scenario using this new information. The beginning timeline from 1:30 to 1:45 is the same, as well as me witnessing the Porsche on Themis Ave. at 3:30. Now our big difference is factored in, namely that Dr. Impressa arrived on the scene to examine the body after our surprisingly small fire was extinguished. He finished his work at 2:25 and returned to the hospital to report to the chief coroner, making it 2:55 now.

"Then he returned, but due to the crowded scene surrounding Forst's house, he had to use Themis Ave. as the nearest space for parking. He parked his car northbound so he could make an easy exit onto Square Way. This is around 3:30, when I saw the Porsche. I can thus deduce that I witnessed it when he had _just_ parked there and was walking toward Forst's house. I didn't pay attention to any pedestrians, so I can't say that I saw him for sure. Give him about ten to 15 minutes to arrive there, and you have 3:45 when he met up with you."

"Well, that adds up quite nicely, I believe," Cybil smiled, appearing a lot calmer than before. "There are a lot of questions that need still answering, but it's certainly a lot better than your original claim."

"I'm glad that your doubts have settled, but may I ask what these other questions plaguing you are?" Dona asked.

"It baffles me that the hospital would ask my husband to suddenly do a coroner's field work. Why didn't they just ask their morticians on staff to handle this case?"

"I honestly can't answer that, Mrs. Impressa. It's something that you'll have to inquire the hospital about. If you want a theory, it could be that since Dr. Impressa was in the city delivering Forst's medicine at noon, he could have had other affairs to handle in the area for a couple of hours. Remember that he always makes the delivery of insulin pens to his brother's place every 19th of the month, so I bet the hospital would have known about that. While he was out and about, the hospital called him to handle an emergency coroner's report for his own brother's death, especially since today is the 19th."

"Hmm… I shouldn't take too much stock in a baseless deduction, but at least it's an angle for me to perform my inquiries later."

"That's why I'm not the one you should be asking that question to. I don't have the authority to obtain confidential information from the hospital, so the onus is on you to find that out."

"I understand, dear. I'll have to make that my homework for tonight," Cybil chuckled and wrote some notes in her planner.

Feeling mentally exhausted from all of her thinking, Dona exhaled a visible sigh and sat in the chair. Cybil noticed her student's fatigue and gave her a few candies from her purse while saying, "You look spent there. Maybe these will give you a little fuel for our interrogation."

"Thank you, but I'm trying to watch what I eat. Bertie doesn't like it when I eat too much sugar."

"I don't recall you mentioning that you had diabetes."

"I don't. It's just that I'm prone to seizures, and controlling my sugar intake improves my chances of not having one."

"Oh, yes, you did mention that you had some health problems. Never mind my offer then. I wouldn't want to make your guardian angry with me."

Just as Cybil was about to put the sweets away, they heard a woman's voice exclaim, "I'll have some!"

The attorney squealed in surprise, but the student barely reacted to the sudden noise. They noticed an attractive woman in her mid-20s wearing a nurse's uniform sitting on the opposite side of the interrogation window.

"My goodness! Don't give me such a fright!" Cybil yelped.

"I'm sorry! But I've been talking to the detectives for so long that I haven't had anything to eat! Please let me have them! I'm dying of hunger over here!"

"R-Right… my dear…" the attorney handed over her candies to the woman, and she munched on them with delight.

Dona interrupted them by saying, "I'm assuming that you're Nye Eve, the nurse assigned to Forst Impressa?"

"Yes, I am. The police finished talking to me a few minutes ago and sent me here to speak to my attorney. Sure took you a while to get here, Mrs. Impressa!" Nye barked, staring directly at Dona.

"W-Wait, I'm not the one defending you… This lady sitting beside me is your attorney. I'm just an apprentice studying under her."

"Huh. Yeah, I thought you were a little too young to be defending me. Sorry about that. The state had appointed my attorney for me and I didn't know what she looked like."

 _I'm wearing a schoolgirl's uniform. Could I be any more obviously underage to work as an attorney?_

"Ahem!" Cybil coughed. "Well, now that we're all nice and settled in, we have some questions that we hope you could answer. Just remember to be completely truthful with us, Ms. Eve. Even if it hurts your case, what's important is that we understand your part of this story."

"Yeah… Although I'm pretty tired from talking with the police," Nye sighed. "I had to tell them every microscopic movement that I made in great detail. I still can't believe that my patient is dead and that his bedroom went up in smoke! It's appalling to think that they could accuse me of committing murder and arson! That butt-ugly prosecutor even went so far as to call me a vindictive shrew behind my back!"

"Pay no mind to Winston," Cybil assured her. "He is a very petty boy with little tact in the way of treating a lady properly."

"Best thing I've heard all day, ma'am."

"Getting back on topic, you're still protesting your innocence?"

"Of course I am! I didn't do it! End of story!"

"Very good. That's all we need to believe in. Now we need to sort some facts out with you that will help with our case."

"Have you talked with the police about the crime yet? 'Cause I'm just too exhausted to go all over it again."

"No worries, my dear. Dona cooperated with the detective and filled me in on the crime scene, and my husband Dr. Lude Impressa delivered the initial autopsy report. And yes, he is the same Dr. Impressa as the one who delivered Forst's insulin at noon today."

"Really? What a small world we live in."

"First, I would like to know what you were doing during the estimated time of Forst's death between 1:00 and 1:30 PM and before the fire department arrived at 1:45. Anything you can fill in when my husband was there would be appreciated."

"Okay," Nye replied. "So Dr. Impressa came to drop off my patient's insulin at twelve, and he only stayed for five minutes so we could verify the shipment and amount of medication."

 _Looks like his alibi at the house can be corroborated with this, unfortunate as that may seem for us,_ Dona thought.

"After the doctor left, I was in the kitchen making lunch for Forst, which he ate in the living room while reading his smut mags at 12:30. Then at about quarter to one, he went to his room to have his daily nap, and I cleaned up after him."

"When were you scheduled to give him his insulin?" Cybil asked.

"At 1:00 on the dot."

"You mean you gave it to him while he was napping?"

"He hated needles, so he preferred to be fast asleep while I gave him his injections. I even gave him some sleeping medication with his food to help him relax. You can verify with the mortician about the contents of his stomach, which should have some sedatives in them. It was part of his regimen for controlling his mental outbursts as well, since he was suffering from dementia."

"Very good. I will look into that."

"Anyway, I entered his room with one of the new insulin pens and administered it to him. It's an injection into the fat layer just beneath his skin, preferably his outer upper arm."

"Yes, well, that is something we need to discuss with you," Cybil frowned. "According to the initial autopsy report, Forst died from hypoglycemia as a result of excess insulin intake."

"The detective told me that as well, but I can't believe that's possible. The insulin pens that Dr. Impressa delivered every month were carefully regulated doses, and I only gave Forst three shots a day! I even wrote it down on my medication sheet and spoke with the agency about it when I had to make my usual verification report! The sharps container also only had two spent pens for today; one for the morning injection, and the other for the afternoon injection! If today was like any other ordinary day, there would be a third one for the evening injection!"

"So you're absolutely, positively sure that you only gave him _one_ injection at 1:00 PM?"

" _Yes!_ I lost count of how many times I've been asked that today!" Nye yelled in frustration while smacking her hands against the counter. "That autopsy report is a fraud! I just know it! Someone from the initial investigation must have royally screwed up, or I wouldn't be here! Honestly, if some clueless nutjob tries to say 'Oops, we done goofed and put you in hot water for it – sorry about that!' then they're gonna hear from me in court!"

"All right, no need to waste your precious energy going into a frenzy, my dear."

Dona said, "So that covers from 12:00 to 1:00 PM. How about from 1:00 to when the fire broke out?"

"Let's see…" the nurse continued. "I was in the lounge sorting all of the insulin pens with his other medications for me to easily use throughout the next month. That usually takes me a little while since there are literally hundreds of pills and pens for me to handle."

"Can you define what 'a little while' is?" Cybil asked.

"I'd say about 15 minutes. Then for another 10 minutes, I was busy cleaning the lounge thoroughly. Forst had gone out for his usual walk during the morning, so I had taken that chance to go through his room and give it a good wipe down before he would come back for his lunch and nap."

"How well did you clean his room? A little dusting, or a complete cleaning?"

"I take pride in my cleaning skills thanks to my previous job as a maid. It's what carried me through my university years until I became a nurse and was hired by the agency. Even now, I still have the habit of leaving no spot unwiped."

"Yes, habits are powerful forces to be reckoned with. I still peel potatoes the same way as when I worked as a prep cook at Dona's age."

"You betcha! And with Forst being the slob that he was, it was an absolute nightmare to keep up with him. I straightened his bed, swept the floor, organized his laundry, and wiped every possible surface I could see – night table, lamp, dresser, chair, bed legs and all – until he came back."

"Oh, speaking of lamps, the detective at the scene was wondering if anything was wrong with that desk lamp since it could have been used as a trigger for starting the fire. Did you see anything out of the ordinary during your cleaning spree?"

Nye thought for a second, then said, "No, not that I know of. It certainly was a lot better than the house itself."

"Was it ever turned on at any point?"

"No, it hardly ever gets used. That's why I have to go in and clean the dust off the bulb and ceramic."

"But it functions properly, yes?"

"It does, even though it's probably older than me and your student put together."

Cybil chuckled, "Hoh, hoh, hoh! You better not speak ill of the elderly or else bad karma will catch up with you!"

"That wasn't really my intention, Mrs. Impressa…"

Dona said, "So you were cleaning in the lounge with such precision at 1:45. So is that when you first noticed the fire?"

Nye became frightened and exclaimed, "Yes! I smelled smoke coming from the bedroom and went to investigate. Wouldn't you know it, the other side of the room was all on fire! I was so scared that I ran outside as fast as I could calling everyone I could think of!"

"Did you call 9-1-1 first?"

"Uh… Well, it's a little embarrassing, but I called my boyfriend first," the nurse sheepishly adjusted her hat. "I just wanted to let him know that I was safe. Then I called my mom, then my dad, and then…"

"Oh my, such an elementary mistake," Cybil shook her head. "Under any and all circumstances, even if you are scared beyond your wits, you should call the police first."

"Don't I know that now! It's because I called my parents and boyfriend that that stupid prosecutor thinks I committed arson! He claims that I had the time to set the fire and was purposely trying to delay calling for help!"

"Fortunately, one of the neighbors had called at the same time you ran out of the house," Dona said.

"Yes, it was Mrs. Smith, wasn't it? I always went to her to vent all of my troubles on."

"Troubles over Forst's lewd behavior, right? We heard about it from Mrs. Smith and Dr. Impressa."

"Even if he did have a mental illness, nothing excuses finding my panties beneath his pillows or having to deliver stolen bras to the poor girl next door."

 _Talk about someone with no control of his libido…_

The student reminded her, "The prosecution will be using that as your motive for killing Forst and setting the fire to destroy any evidence."

"Sure, Forst wasn't one of the best patients I had, but I always count my blessings that it could have been worse. I simply don't have the capacity to kill anyone. My job is to save lives, not take them away!"

"I understand. But at our current position, our case is rather weak. Even if you claim that you only gave him one insulin injection, the body's been burned too badly to prove it one way or another. You said that the sharps container held his two injections for the day, so the prosecution can also say you used those two injections to-"

"No, not necessarily," Nye stopped her.

"Oh? Why not?"

"Each insulin pen has a sticker with the patient's name, medication, and date of preparation on it. Since the morning injection was done with the final pen from the September 19 shipment, that means that the afternoon injection was done with the first pen from today's delivery. Dr. Impressa even verified that every pen he had delivered to me last month was used properly."

"So it proves that you had used the final pen from September for this morning's shot. But there's still the chance of the prosecution saying that you had taken two pens from October's delivery and used them to kill him."

"Dona, Dona, Dona, you're still missing the point, my dear," Cybil said. "She just said that every pen has a date sticker on it. All the investigators have to do is look at the sharps container and organize the used needles in there chronologically. If Ms. Eve is right, they're only going to find the one insulin pen from the October 19 shipment that she had used at 1:00."

"I see," the student sat back, looking genuinely confused. "So you really used just a single pen at 1:00. That's hardly what anyone, never mind a certified mortician, could classify as a fatal insulin overdose."

"That's why I think that autopsy report is completely bogus!" Nye argued. "Under these circumstances, it's impossible for Forst to have died from excess insulin, which means that I'm not the killer! After I left him to take his nap, I never saw him alive again! If he was going to be killed by someone, it would had to have been done while I was in the lounge!"

Cybil and Dona glanced at each other with a hint of wariness in their eyes.

 _The autopsy report is bogus, huh…?_

"Yes, that is something we can counter the prosecution with," Cybil nodded. "There is a significant gap of time between when you left Forst and when you discovered the fire. It's plenty of time for someone else to commit the crime."

"The problem is if anyone can corroborate what she said," Dona reminded her.

Nye became dejected as she admitted, "I'm afraid not. I was alone for those 45 minutes."

"Even if we can't prove what you were doing then, the prosecution can't do so either. Plus any evidence of an intrusion through the window was eliminated by the fire. That time frame is simply a black hole that no amount of circumstantial evidence or witness testimony can fill."

"Such lack of information can be beneficial to our case though, Ms. Eve," Cybil assured. "If the prosecution's case is just as weak as ours, the judge may have no choice but to declare you not guilty due to lack of evidence."

"You think that's what will happen tomorrow?" Nye wondered.

"I'm fairly certain the trial will be delayed so both sides can find more concrete evidence. Since this is a two-day bench system though, stretching the case any further would put a strain on the courts. I suppose our strategy will have to be disproving the prosecution's arguments rather than proving your innocence, since we just have nothing to work with beyond a questionable autopsy report and a fire caused by unknown means."

"That sounds like a reasonable approach," Dona agreed.

"Yeah, I can see your point, Mrs. Impressa," Nye said.

"Very good," Cybil said. "Just so we're absolutely clear, I want you to look me straight in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with Forst's death nor the arson."

"I did not commit either of those crimes, ma'am. I won't change that no matter how many times I'm asked."

"Lovely! Thank you for your cooperation, dear. Visiting hours are just about over, so you should get as much rest as you can. Dona and I will continue our work and build a case that will get you acquitted."

"Thank you for believing in me, even if it's just your job."

"Nonsense. When I think of all the innocent people who suffered during the dark age of the law, I feel hopelessly compelled to fix the mistakes that our legal system has caused for such poor souls."

Dona was silent during the end of this conversation. The 'dark age of the law' phrase brought back quite a few memories. Although she had only been a child back when the idiom was first invented, the later years had put her and her sister through some difficult times. However, that was all over now, and there really was nothing for her to worry about. Perhaps it was mere nostalgia that caused her to have such melancholic memories.

"Let's get going then, Dona. You job is done for the day, but I still have a little research to do back at the office," Cybil said.

"You mean about the autopsy report that Dr. Impressa provided for the case?" the student asked.

"Yes, that certainly has become quite the contradiction to investigate. If Ms. Eve is absolutely certain that she only gave Forst one insulin injection, and that the sharps container can prove her claim, then the report's finding of insulin-caused hypoglycemia as the cause of death is simply not possible. You remember those years when everyone was fabricating evidence to achieve 'victory' and all of that hullaballoo? I wonder if those times really are behind us…"

"Maybe attorneys and prosecutors are better regulated now, but other professions may or may not have such strict protocols for providing third-party evidence."

"Yes, that's certainly true, dear. In any case, finding the truth behind this report will be my responsibility. You should head home and get plenty of sleep. Remember that the trial begins at 10:00 AM tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am."


	4. Turnabout Apprentice - 4

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Investigation: Part 4**

 **October 19, 2031**

 **7:30 P.M.**

 **DiPrima Residence**

After such a busy afternoon of investigating, Dona returned home feeling physically exhausted but mentally active as she kept thinking about this confusing case. An older gentleman awaited her arrival outside and greeted her at the door with, "Welcome back, Dona."

"Sorry for being so late, Bertie," the student apologized. "Dinner must be cold by now."

"On the contrary, I have kept it warm for you. Diva had eaten, but then she was summoned to the Prosecutor's Office while you were out."

"Really? I wonder why she needed to go on one of her days off."

"Please come inside and rest yourself."

They entered the mansion, and the man nicknamed 'Bertie' helped Dona get settled in with her warmed leftovers. His real name was Adelbert Krandes, a butler who had been hired by the DiPrima family 20 years ago, so Dona and her sister Diva had known him their whole lives. After their parents died when they were toddlers, Adelbert had taken custody of them as their legal guardian. Back in those days, it was easier for the girls to call him Bertie, and the moniker stuck ever since.

"You look positively exhausted, Dona. Just how involved were you in this so-called 'homicide' investigation?" Adelbert asked.

"You'll probably be filing a complaint with Mrs. Impressa after I tell you…"

She detailed him on everything that she discovered up to this point while eating her meal. The butler shook his head in consternation and muttered, "I am quite surprised you did not faint after witnessing such a heinous crime scene. Then again, exaggerated fainting incidents are more along Diva's forte. You were always the more composed one after all."

"None of that really bothered me. I've just been wracking my brain trying to figure out this insane mystery. If everything stands as it is, then we're bringing an impossible crime to trial."

"Just remember that there is no such thing as an 'impossible crime'. It is simply a 'crime lacking concrete evidence'. Besides, I may want to ask Mrs. Impressa not to involve you in tomorrow's hearing if it is causing you such stress."

"Bertie…?" Dona murmured. "You do realize that such stress will become part of my job when I become a professional lawyer. I've already assessed the risks and formulated strategies to cope with my health issues while defending my clients. It would be detrimental to my future career if you kept finding ways to vigorously protect me from these job hazards."

Adelbert became silent for a minute. Then he finally said, "I understand. Becoming a defense attorney was always your passion. I will try not to interfere as much as I have before, but do realize that I am still responsible for your physical well-being. As your guardian, it would be unbefitting of me to expose you to unnecessary stress, especially given your past medical history."

"I know. I guess we'll have to balance each other's interests from this point onward."

"Very good. So judging by your insistence, you are still seeking to attend tomorrow's trial, yes?"

"I'm only supposed to observe anyway. I have no business actually participating in the hearings. It's just that with such a complicated case, I wish there was some way for me to assist Mrs. Impressa in providing tangible evidence for her cross-examinations," Dona frowned.

"So the best evidence that you have gathered are a dead victim burnt postmortem, a potentially faulty autopsy report, several key statements, and evidence – or lack thereof – of an arson trigger."

"The biggest point of contention is Ms. Eve's claim that she only gave Forst one insulin injection. If that one syringe contained enough insulin to kill him, then the autopsy report could be verified. But the pens were filled according to very specific amounts for the patient, and it hardly constituted as a fatal dose. Yet, the death had to have occurred well after Dr. Impressa left at 12:05, and Ms. Eve was the only one home with the victim then."

"Hmph. Whoever attempted to fabricate the autopsy report was very careless," Adelbert scoffed. "Given these circumstances, it's just blatantly impossible for an insulin overdose to be the cause of death. The culprit is trying much too hard to pin the blame on that poor nurse, and yet the prosecution is willing to overlook such an obvious clue."

"Mrs. Impressa is going to look into obtaining a third-party report directly from the hospital to submit as legal evidence. If the new report comes back with different findings, then Dr. Impressa's report is little more than scrap paper, and that would put his authenticity and the prosecution's case to the test."

"Yes, there is no harm in asking for a second opinion. Given the harried circumstances surrounding how Dr. Impressa produced the initial report, the court may have to discredit his findings in favor of the new medical examiner's report."

"But then…" Dona murmured. "How is it possible for Forst to die in such a way that the arsonist would be guaranteed that he was dead prior to setting the fire? An insulin overdose obviously wasn't the cause, and yet the culprit was absolutely certain that his target died."

"Oh, I see the implication in your words there," Adelbert adjusted his necktie. "You speak of the missing murder weapon. Finding wounds on the body and something that caused them is most imperative to sorting through this mess. Yes, if the culprit had snuck in through the window while Forst was sleeping – while on sedatives, no less – any form of murder is possible. Our criminal had to have known about such a schedule if he pulled off his act with efficiency."

"Detective Skye and I verified that the window wasn't very secure due to the age of the house."

"Then the fire obviously served as a means of destroying evidence from both the body and the window. I understand that it was quite a potent blaze too."

"Yes, it was. There were quite a few flammable materials in that general area. Even if someone did sneak in and murder Forst directly, there's just no way for anyone to prove that anything happened around the window beyond there being a fire started. That's why I'm thinking about the murder more than the fire, since the motive for arson is established."

"Quite the puzzle indeed," the butler remarked. "But it is simply a puzzle with missing pieces."

"… Maybe one with hidden pieces, too," the student murmured grimly.

"Meaning?"

"If Dr. Impressa's report was more believable, such suspicion would not be cast upon him. I can't believe that a former medical examiner could have made a mistake with his findings, no matter how hurried he was."

"That man… Lude Impressa, is it? He is the victim's brother, and Mrs. Impressa's husband, correct? You also said that he was responsible for delivering Forst's insulin pens to his house every month."

"Yes, he was," Dona nodded. "But other than that, he wasn't too involved in his brother's care."

"Hmm… Tell me, do you know much surrounding the circumstances with that delivery he made today?"

"Huh? I don't think there was anything remarkable about it. Dr. Impressa went to the house at noon to drop off a month's supply of insulin pens and only stayed for five minutes."

"Did he happen to give her a pen that he had personally handled from the box?" Adelbert leaned in and asked intently.

"I, uh… I don't really know the details behind their interactions."

"That is not good, Dona. As the idiom goes, devils lurk within details. As an up-and-coming attorney, you must ask about everything, even if it sounds pointless to those answering."

She gazed at her guardian and wondered, "Why are you so curious to know so much about that moment?"

"Dr. Impressa may not be as trustworthy as he would like others to believe. If it's proven that he tampered with the autopsy report, what is to say he did not do the same with those pens?"

Dona couldn't find anything to argue back with. Sure, it was baseless conjecture at this point, but Lude had already provided faulty evidence, so Adelbert could back up his argument with that as proof.

"I see I have stumped you with that little riddle. My apologies. I should have been more considerate of your fatigued state," he apologized and warmed up some water in a kettle. "Perhaps some hot cocoa will ease your nerves a little."

"Hm…" Dona mumbled. She went to the living room and waited for him to return with her beverage. While there, she noticed the distinct glare of headlights turning into the driveway, and then heard the garage door winding open. A teenaged girl who looked identical to Dona entered through the side door and exhaled a loud, "Phew! Finally back!"

"Is that you, Diva?" Dona called out.

"There you are, Lil' Sis!" Diva exclaimed and sat next to her on the sofa, opening a black folding fan and fanning it in front of her face. Their identical features would have almost made them indistinguishable were it not for Dona wearing a blue school uniform and Diva a red one.

"Geez, you wouldn't believe the torture I had to go through at the PO!" the annoyed twin complained. "While you were out having fun at the crime scene, I had to shuffle a bunch of papers around for that self-righteous excuse of a prosecutor! It's appalling to think that I have to intern under a fruitcake like that! I ought to file a complaint with Themis for making me put up with such glass ceiling heckling!"

"Um… Back up a little there. When you say that 'I was having fun at the crime scene', are you talking about the Forst Impressa murder?"

"Wait, did Bertie not mention it to you? The PO called me in to help out with preparing Payne's papers about that case. Either they didn't have anyone to help him out, or they just wanted to milk me for free labor. What an atrocious state of affairs there!"

"So does that mean you're going to assist him in the trial tomorrow?"

"Oh hoh hoh hoh!" Diva laughed arrogantly. "Just as much as you're going to be Attorney Impressa's assistant! Thanks to my inglorious paper shuffling, I have just as much of an understanding of the case as you do! On top of that, Payne said that he hadn't been feeling his oats lately and needed someone to stand with him at the prosecutor's bench just in case."

"I see…"

Adelbert returned to the living room with a tray of two mugs of piping hot beverage. He said to Diva, "Welcome back. I heard you coming in, so I prepared an extra cup of cocoa for you."

"Thanks, Bertie. Just the thing I need to kick back and relax."

"If you ladies will excuse me, I have a few phone calls I need to make."

He left them be, and Dona said to her sister, "Do you know about the fraudulent autopsy report then?"

"Sure do. That doctor is going on the witness stand to testify about his findings and why they contradict the facts. I'm sure your boss will have a time and a half grilling him, especially since he's her husband!"

 _If nothing else, she'll be henpecking him to death,_ Dona thought, and then asked, "Did the prosecution order an updated report after finding this out?"

"Of course they did. It wasn't ready when Payne allowed me to leave though. From the charred state of that body, it might take the examiner a while to draw any reasonable conclusions, but the office assured us that it would be prepared in time for the trial."

"I'm glad both sides discovered the fraudulent evidence in time," Dona nodded. "Mrs. Impressa told me that while the police, prosecutors and attorneys are a lot more responsible with evidence these days, they still have to be extra vigilant with assessing third-party evidence and expert testimonies."

"Right. So anything from Dr. Impressa's report is to be scrapped. That means the cause of death is not insulin-caused hypoglycemia. Until the real report comes in, we have to leave that as blank for now."

"Okay. The other big puzzle is how the fire started in the victim's bedroom. Did Detective Skye return with any new findings after I left?"

"Hmm…" Diva mumbled. "How long were you there, anyway?"

"I got there at 3:30 and left about 5:30."

"So after 5:30? Well, she wrapped up her investigation at 6:30 and submitted her report to me at 6:45."

"If she only spent another hour there after I left, she probably didn't have anything remarkably new to find."

"I wouldn't know. I have no idea what you're familiar with about the fire."

Dona briefed Diva about her part of the investigation. After about 15 minutes of hearing her sister's explanation, Diva said, "So no _obvious_ triggers were found, and we've got a decrepit house that should have been torn down ages ago. That tells me we've got either a simple trick that was thoroughly destroyed, or an elaborate setup that the police have never seen before."

"That's not going to sit well with the judge."

"Hey, that's his problem, not ours. We have no control over how careful or careless the culprit was."

"I told everything to Bertie, and he believed the culprit was familiar with Forst's sleeping schedule and the layout of the house."

"That easily applies to the defendant."

"And to Dr. Impressa. They were brothers after all, and he didn't exactly have a glowing opinion of him."

"Hey, do you have evidence that our good 'doctor' was at the house to kill Forst?"

"Well, nothing conclusive… The only thing that bothers me is that I witnessed Dr. Impressa's car on Themis Ave. at 3:30 while I drove to the scene. It means he was definitely in the general area at 12:00 and later at 3:30."

"So what? That doesn't tell me anything," Diva shrugged.

"I know. Maybe I'm overanalyzing it," Dona pondered. "But I told Mrs. Impressa, and she wasn't too happy with me mentioning that. I did what I could to debunk the chance of him being the killer, but with his report now officially dismissed, it gets me thinking as to what he really _was_ doing near the school. Both the hospital and his pharmacy aren't even close to Forst's house, and he doesn't have any other patients in that area besides from his brother."

"Well… now that you say it like that, Payne never heard anything about Dr. Impressa's car being on Themis Avenue. It might behoove you to submit that as testimony if there is suspicion of the doctor's involvement with this crime. Then we can draw out more details from the doctor about why he was there at such an unusual time."

"Mrs. Impressa may bring it up in court anyway. If she doesn't remember, then I can always request to testify about it. It would take too long for me to have an affidavit notarized in time for the proceedings."

"Fine. Just be sure that Payne doesn't chew you up too much," Diva rolled her eyes.

"I thought it was Mrs. Impressa's job to 'chew me up', not Mr. Payne's," Dona stated.

"Right, right. So all this boils down to is that while the doctor's movements are highly suspicious, there's nothing to absolutely tie him with the crime, leaving your boss' client high and dry as the only possible suspect. And yet, we don't have anything conclusive tying the nurse to the crime either."

Dona sighed and rested her head against the sofa cushions. "If we can't find anything definitive, then we're just going to have logical fallacies bouncing back and forth between our two sides. Ms. Eve may be guilty, but if her guilt is unproven, she'll be found innocent."

"And if she's innocent, yet there's enough to prove guilt, she'll be found guilty."

"An argument of ignorance."

"In other words, a fantastic waste of the court's time."

"This kind of confusion could be what the true culprit wants."

"If there _is_ a true culprit."

"…"

* * *

 **October 19, 2031**

 **8:15 P.M.**

 **Impressa & Co. Law Office**

Cybil had just finished speaking with the medical examiner on the phone regarding the status of the new autopsy report, and to disregard the one that Lude had provided. She didn't feel comfortable with the prospect of her husband possibly forging evidence, but as an attorney, she had long since trained to accept the truth no matter how difficult it was. She sat back and thought about Dona's explanation at the detention center and how much it had calmed her anxiety at the time. Her theory that Lude was the initial coroner at the scene turned out to be true thanks to the third-party mortician's testimony on the phone just now. Cybil had asked many questions regarding this peculiarity.

It turned out that after Lude had delivered the insulin pens to Forst's house, he had to fill in for one of his employees' delivery orders in the Themis Avenue area during the afternoon. Then when the medical examiner's office received word of Forst's death, the chief examiner called Lude for his help because they were good acquaintances when he worked as a coroner years ago. He had requested Lude to go to the scene and perform the initial investigation since he was so conveniently in the local area and could put his past experience to use. Lude's records confirmed that he had returned to the hospital with the body and the initial report.

But here was where things became strange. The chief examiner was the one responsible for verifying that the initial report matched the actual cause of death, and that he didn't agree with the cause of death as insulin-related hypoglycemia. He told Cybil on the phone that Lude agreed to bring the verified initial report back to the detective on the crime scene so it could be used in the investigation. In all honesty, he had been stunned that the police were investigating hypoglycemia as the cause of death to begin with.

What had been the actual cause of death? The chief examiner said that he would personally oversee and deliver the new report tomorrow. However, he strongly suspected cerebral hypoxia, or lack of oxygen to the brain. He couldn't say what the cause of this was due to the body being charred nearly beyond recognition, but it certainly wasn't hypoglycemia. He had to admit that there were numerous ways for cerebral hypoxia to occur, such as low blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, or even strangulation.

Cybil had thanked him for his hard work and hung up. Now she was stuck with the dilemma of what happened to the chief coroner's report that Lude was supposed to bring to Detective Skye. When did he have the opportunity to alter or even destroy that document unseen? She couldn't help but think of that hint of suspicion in Dona's eyes, even though she had been trying to rationalize Lude's movements.

 _I think Dona truly suspected Lude, but didn't want to say anything to hurt my feelings._

As she thought about this conundrum, the phone rang again, and she answered it.

"Impressa & Co Law Offices, Cybil here."

" _Hello, madam. This is Krandes from the DiPrima residence."_

"Oh, Mr. Krandes! How's everything with you?"

" _I am as splendid as ever. However, I understand that you put Dona through quite the gamut with that investigation."_

"Yes, I'm _so_ sorry about that! I should have thought better to let her assist in such a horrendous case!"

" _Well, what's done is done. Just be more vigilant in the future. She is a capable child, but still very fragile and easily prone to seizures."_

"I understand. I was going to call you offering an apology, but you're taking the words right out of my mouth, good sir."

" _Heh heh, I'm sure I am! But in any case, I was most curious about a particular detail regarding your case. Dona filled me in on what she discovered, but there was one thing she couldn't sufficiently explain."_

"Oh? And what would that be?" Cybil wondered.

" _The specific interactions between your husband and the defendant at noon."_

"You mean the five-minute visit that Lude made to Forst's house? I've already verified the paperwork and-"

" _I am not speaking about the red tape. I wish to know about how your husband personally exchanged the box of injections from his hands into your defendant's care."_

"Well… Now that you mention it, I don't really know how they interacted. Why is this so important for you to ask, Mr. Krandes?"

The attorney paused while listening to Adelbert's explanation. One of her partners passed by while preparing to leave for the night and noticed his usually chipper boss taking on a grim tone in her expression.

"… Is that what you believe? … Sure, there's nothing supporting your claim, but… Yes… Yes, I know… Well, the only thing I can do is give them a call and have them analyze it," she mumbled while simultaneously jotting some notes. "No, I don't even think the prosecution is considering that angle… There's just no basis for anyone to ask those types of questions in the first place, so of course no one had considered it… Yes, I can double check with them too… Well, it depends on what the chief examiner finds, but he's claiming- Wait, that's classified, so I can't tell you… Yes, thanks for your understanding… Yes, you're quite familiar with confidentiality as well, aren't you? You used to work for MI6, so only an ex-agent of such caliber could make an outrageously out-of-the-box suggestion like that."

After some more friendly chatter, she bid him good night and hung up.

"What was that all about, Boss?" her junior partner asked.

"Just an informant with a crazy suggestion that he wanted me to look into."

"You sure you want to pursue such a questionable lead? We all know how dubious and time-wasting such people tend to be."

"Under normal circumstances, I would dismiss it. But my case is suffering from lack of evidence, and that gentleman is no ordinary tattletale."

"You said he used to work for MI6, right?"

"He freely mentioned it to me before. This was probably _way_ before your time though, mister!"

"You sound quite smitten with him though."

"Oh, don't be foolish. Anyway, I'm going to look into these things that he mentioned. You go on ahead – I'll close up tonight."

"'Kay. See you tomorrow, Boss."

After bidding him good night, Cybil rested her chin upon her hands and stared at her notes with tremendous doubt in her otherwise jovial features. Although hesitant to pursue this lead that Adelbert offered her, she also needed something to strengthen her case with. While picking up the phone and dialing the numbers, she could only think of three things;

One, if anything would amount from this kind of questioning.

Two, that the prosecution could warp this potential data to their favor.

And three…

She shook her head and took a sip of water. She would save the last worry for when she got home.

 _Lude, my dear… We may need to have a serious talk for the first time in our 40 years of marriage._


	5. Turnabout Apprentice - 5

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Trial: Part 1**

 **October 20, 2031**

 **9:30 AM**

 **District Court – Defendant Lobby No. 1**

Dona had arrived at the district courthouse at nine in the morning to prepare for the upcoming trial. While she skimmed through her notes and collection of evidence, Nye Eve sat on the couch nearby watching television, although 'sat' was too abstract a term to use for all of the fidgeting and squirming she was doing.

"Is it time yet?" Nye asked for the fourth time.

"No, just be patient," Dona said.

"…"

"…"

"Is it almost time?" Nye asked for the fifth time.

"I will let you know when it's time for us to enter."

"Geez. When is Mrs. Impressa going to arrive?"

"Now that you mention it, she's running rather late today. If she doesn't show up, we could be in trouble. Let me try calling her."

Dona flipped open her cell phone and dialed her mentor's number. To her chagrin, she received the answering machine, so she closed the phone and shook her head in disappointment.

"So if she fails to appear in time, does that mean you'll defend me?" Nye asked.

"I'm afraid I can't. The Bar Association doesn't recognize me as a licensed legal practitioner. Furthermore, my curriculum at Themis doesn't allow me to participate in real deliberations."

"No way! Isn't there something you can do, Ms. DiPrima!? You legal people are all about finding loopholes and taking advantage of laws to make things go your way, right!?"

 _I'm pretty sure that falls under immoral ethical practices…_

"At this point, the best I can do is explain our situation to the judge and see what he thinks. I should pay a quick visit to his chambers and fill him in right now so he has enough time to decide," Dona offered. "You wait here for me to come back."

The student was about to leave the lobby when they heard the door knocking. A bailiff entered and saluted her, stating, "Are you Dona DiPrima, Cybil Impressa's intern from Themis Legal Academy?"

"Yes, I am. Do you need me for something, sir?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. One of your boss' partners just stopped by and told me that Mrs. Impressa has fallen ill and was sent to the hospital just now."

"She's not feeling well!?" Nye exclaimed.

"He realized that she hadn't shown up to collect the evidence she needed for today and tried calling her. She never responded, so he asked the police to do a welfare check at her house about half an hour ago. They found her lying in her bed unconscious and called an ambulance to pick her up."

"You mean she didn't respond to anything they did?" Dona wondered worriedly.

"I don't really know more beyond what he told me."

"Where was Dr. Impressa when she needed him the most!?" the nurse barked.

Dona reminded her, "The prosecution is preparing to make him a witness. He's been here since 8:30, so I'm guessing that the welfare check happened after he left."

"Oh… right…"

The bailiff continued, "Her partner wasn't sure of the details, so he left me this package to give to you, claiming that it was to be used for today's trial. He just left to go to the hospital and find out more, but promised that he would be back to help you. He wanted you to submit a substitution of attorney petition and hold down the fort until he got back."

 _Talk about a gross oversight. Couldn't that lawyer have taken over the case and let me go to the hospital?_ Dona rubbed her forehead and sighed. The bailiff handed her a large package, and she took a moment to gaze at its contents. Unfortunately, she didn't have very much time to do a thorough check, but from what she could see, some of it looked promising.

"So… this means that Mrs. Impressa won't be coming… right?" Nye shuddered.

"I'm afraid so," Dona shook her head.

They glanced at the clock hanging high above. They had 25 minutes left and counting. The minute and second hands ticked forward ever so vigilantly, striking down the moments until the trial began.

"T-Then what's going to happen? Who's going to defend me?" Nye wondered, and then went into panic mode. "Ahh, does this mean I have to defend myself!? It's impossible! No one who has ever done that has won their case! I wouldn't even know where to begin!"

"Don't worry, Ms. Eve," Dona firmly said. "I'll handle things until the substitute attorney comes back."

"You!? But you're just a student! Have you even taken your legal tests or whatever yet!?"

"It's called a bar exam, and no I haven't. But considering our circumstances and your right to a fair and speedy trial, the judge may allow me to defend you. Of course I can't promise what his reaction will be, but if I explain things rationally without delaying the trial, it should turn out that way. Unfortunately, I can't request a suspension without a verdict – the proceedings must happen one way or another."

"Ah, I don't want to deal with this suspense anymore! I want these charges cleared right away!" Nye fretted, biting her handkerchief anxiously.

"I can understand your sentiment. As far as the case is concerned, I've memorized the details enough to hold my head over the water, so to say," Dona nodded. "And as long as I have time to examine this package, these new pieces of evidence that Mrs. Impressa left for us may help us out."

"I… I guess I have no choice…"

"It's certainly better than trying to defend yourself in that state."

"You're right."

"We still have time. Let's fill out the needed papers so I can be recognized as your temporary attorney until the substitute returns. Bailiff, can you escort us to the judge so I may speak with him posthaste?"

"Absolutely. He's right this way," the man directed them through the courthouse.

While walking through the hallways, Dona noticed something in her peripheral vision. It was a tall figure wearing blue, but she couldn't make out much more than that since they turned the corner before she could get a good look at him. She dismissed it and refocused on her task at hand; reading the papers that Cybil left for her. She also had to cope with putting her worries for her mentor's well-being aside.

 _I'll do what I can to defend your client, Mrs. Impressa. Just please be all right by the end of this._

* * *

 **October 20, 2031**

 **10:00 AM**

 **District Court – Courtroom No. 1**

The slamming gavel indicated the start of the trial.

"Court is in session for the trial of Ms. Nye Eve," the judge announced.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor," Dona said. Although she was nervous, she was good at hiding it behind a calm visage.

Her prosecutor opponent, Winston Payne, was notorious for his reputation as the 'Rookie Killer' since he caused many new lawyers to lose their cases. Years ago, he had quite the ego, but he had since toned it down after losing to a few rookie lawyers. Fortunately, he wasn't as corrupt as his younger brother Gaspen since he wasn't beyond using foul means to achieve victory. The Chief Prosecutor apparently reprimanded Gaspen for his actions since then, and the prosecutor had long since left the country. As if that wasn't enough for the Paynes, Winston was a few years shy of 70 and was about to retire from the profession.

"The prosecution is also ready, Your Honor," Winston said with an even tone, not wanting to show any sign that he was going to retire soon.

"A substitution of attorney petition was just submitted moments ago. Due to the discovery of Mrs. Impressa unconscious in her room, she has been sent to the hospital and is unable to continue," the judge explained. "I understand that you're interning at Impressa & Co. through Themis Legal Academy, Ms. DiPrima. Are you sure you can handle a trial under these circumstances?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Dona nodded. "I was told to stand in temporarily until her replacement returned, so I will do just that."

"Well, well, this is most fortuitous," Winston smirked. "Although my time in the courtroom is almost over, I may take this opportunity to remind everyone why I was once known as the 'Rookie Killer'. I'm just disappointed that you're not an official rookie, but since that's obviously being overlooked right now, it's never too early to learn just how tough the courtroom can be."

"…"

"You're also my student's twin sister, right? Your likeness to that upstart is so uncanny that it chills the blood in these old bones."

"…"

"Nevertheless, I intend to make my grand exit proving that a rookie – nay, a helpless neophyte of an infant – has absolutely no basis to defend someone who is obviously guilty of her crime."

"…"

"… Um… Why are you staring at me like that?" Winston sweated, surprised that Dona remained statue still during his witty repartee. "Aren't you going to say something?"

"… Your statement, please?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your opening statement," Dona said. "It's supposed to be your job to make the opening statement for every proceeding. Or have I been taught wrong?"

"Don't tell me how to do my job, missy! I know it perfectly well, thank you!"

"Now, now, we don't need both sides arguing with each other," the judge interfered. "Mr. Payne, please proceed with your explanation of the crime."

"Yes, Your Honor," the prosecutor replied. "The crime occurred at the home of the victim, Forst Impressa. The defendant, his in-home nurse Nye Eve, murdered her patient while he was sleeping in his bedroom. She then lit the fire that engulfed half of his bedroom to eliminate the evidence. Fortunately, it had been extinguished thanks to the prudent 9-1-1 call that a neighbor made."

"On what grounds was Ms. Eve arrested as the prime suspect?"

"According to the updated autopsy report we received this morning, the victim died as a result of cerebral hypoxia, or to put it in simple terms, lack of oxygen to the brain. The medical examiner had a very difficult time pinpointing what caused this manner of death due to the nature of the burnt body. However, I had requested for him to search for puncture wounds, and he found quite a few on the victim's arms."

"Forst was diabetic, and Ms. Eve was responsible for injecting him with insulin at regular times during the day since he was mentally incapable of administering it himself," Dona added.

"I see," the judge nodded. "So it would be difficult to determine if a faulty injection had caused his demise."

"Not necessarily, Your Honor," Winston grinned.

Dona furrowed her brow and asked, "Did the second report find anything peculiar?"

"Oh? You mean you haven't read the updated autopsy report yet?"

"I was too preoccupied with arranging to be Ms. Eve's attorney. I'm afraid that reading over any new evidence was a luxury for me during that time."

"I see, I see. Well then, I will let you read it yourself for five minutes. Think of it as proof of my sagacious nature, young lady."

 _Apparently, 'sagacious' is a synonym for 'condescending' to him._

She read the new report over carefully and narrowed her eyes. She read aloud, " _Several subcutaneous puncture wounds were found, consistent with the dispensing of diabetic medications. However, one intramuscular injection site was found on the victim's upper left arm…_ Wait… An intramuscular injection was discovered on such a burnt body?"

"That's right," Winston confirmed. "It means that when Ms. Eve went into that bedroom to give him his insulin at 1:00 PM, she had actually injected something through the muscle tissue, then waited for him to die before setting the room on fire."

"But then it begs the question of why she would suddenly switch from a subcutaneous injection to a muscle layer injection. The medication is the same, and yet the two sites are completely different."

"Don't be absurd. Being a professional nurse and all, she knew that was going to be the case. Granted, subcutaneous injections are the preferred way to dispense insulin to a patient, but intramuscular is just as acceptable."

"Then what's the point of using a fire to destroy the body?"

"Because it _wasn't_ insulin that was injected in that intramuscular site! If the body remained intact, it would have been much easier for the coroner to see this site right away and perform a biopsy to determine what was administered! Only a fool would leave the body the way it was and risk having their scheme so easily exposed!"

"Mmph!" Dona shuddered, practically feeling Winston's words slap her across her face.

The judge said, "Then our first order of business will be to determine why Ms. Eve made such a change in injection sites, and establish if she indeed used a different substance to murder him."

"The prosecution will call upon the defendant, Nye Eve, to testify about this," Winston announced.

The student/attorney frowned as she watched the nervous nurse take to the stand. She thought to herself, _All I need to do is buy time for my replacement to come. I just have to cast reasonable doubt on Mr. Payne's theory, and then the substitute attorney can handle it from there._

"Witness, please state your name and occupation," the judge ordered.

"I-I'm… Nye Eve, a registered nurse."

"Can you tell the court what your affiliation with Forst Impressa was?"

"I work through a nursing agency, and I was assigned to be his full-time in-home caretaker two years ago. I was responsible for his daily needs and dispensing of medications at scheduled times."

"So you were his nurse for two years," Winston stated. "I understand that you had some 'difficulties' with him during that span of time."

"W-Well, I… It's kinda, sorta true that Forst didn't have the best personality…"

Dona interjected, "We have to remember that he was suffering from dementia. It's only natural that someone with such a diagnosis could cause a few issues with his caretakers."

"Yes, I concede to that, Ms. DiPrima," the prosecutor agreed. "But the court must remember that while his mental faculties were in doubt, he also had a rather lewd side to him that he made no secret of. I gathered past complaints from local neighbors about a variety of misdemeanors that run the gamut, but all have one thing in common; he was driven by his carnal instinct for women. Now, Forst has an attractive nurse in her 20s living under the same roof as him."

"Y-You're calling me 'attractive', Mr. Prosecutor…?" Nye fawned.

"Well, as far as Forst was concerned, you were quite the lovely target for his salacious pastime. Enduring such abuse for two years must have caused something to snap in you, which led to you murdering him so you could free yourself from his obscene behavior."

"W-Wait, that's not-!"

" _ **OBJECTION,**_ " Dona called out, her calm voice sounding almost ethereal. "I will not allow the prosecution to persist in attacking the defendant's character without concrete evidence."

The judge nodded and said, "Objection sustained."

Winston arrogantly tapped his balding forehead and said, "I was simply trying to establish Ms. Eve's motive for this heinous deed. Nevertheless, the facts will come to light once we hear what she has to say."

"So, um… what did you want me to talk about?" Nye asked while fidgeting with her handkerchief.

"Ms. Eve," Dona said. "We need to know why you had performed an intramuscular insulin injection when that wasn't part of your regular duties."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: Switched Injection Sites**

Nye said, "When Dr. Impressa arrived with the new delivery of insulin pens, I had to verify its contents and sign off on it. I also mentioned to him that Forst was having trouble processing the insulin in his body. He recommended that I used an intramuscular injection since it absorbed faster in the body than a subcutaneous one. Then at 1:00 PM, I went into the room and injected the insulin in his upper arm."

* * *

"Hmm…" the judge mumbled. "So the victim was having some issues with his previous injections?"

"Yes. Insulin is an unpredictable medication that may or not work properly depending on the patient's physiology. In addition, the reason there were multiple fat-layer puncture wounds is that the injection sites need to be rotated once in a while so the skin doesn't harden up, which can also cause the insulin to not be absorbed into the body properly," Nye explained.

 _It's a good thing she can fill us in on that kind of information, because I certainly can't,_ Dona thought.

"So Dr. Impressa recommended switching from a subcutaneous injection to an intramuscular one to see if that would be more effective?" the judge asked.

"Yes, he did. IM injections work faster than SubQ types, although he recommended me to use this as an emergency measure rather than on a regular basis."

 _So by that logic, the puncture wound on Forst's upper arm shouldn't be considered strange on the surface. However, something isn't adding up here…_

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: Switched Injection Sites**

" **When Dr. Impressa arrived with the new delivery of insulin pens, I had to verify its contents and sign off on it."**

 _So far, so good. The documents from the pharmacy has Ms. Eve's and Dr. Impressa's signatures._

" **I also mentioned to him that Forst was having trouble processing the insulin in his body. He recommended that I used an intramuscular injection since it absorbed faster in the body than a subcutaneous one."**

 _Which she just explained with the need to rotate injection sites._

" **Then at 1:00 PM, I went into the room and injected the insulin in his upper arm."**

… _And therein lies the problem!_

" _ **OBJECTION,**_ " Dona placidly called out. "Let's sort something out first. We know that you gave Forst the final available pen you had from the September 19 delivery in the morning, and he was perfectly fine for those hours as given by testimony from both you and Dr. Impressa. It tells me that that injection was safe. However, you then accepted the October 19 delivery and signed off on it, confirming that every pen contained insulin. Since you had no more injections from the September 19 shipment, you thus began using the first one from the October 19 shipment."

"Yes, that's right. What are you trying to get at from something so obvious, Ms. DiPrima?"

"I want to ask if you or Dr. Impressa took a single pen out of the box so you could take a closer look at it, and if you didn't, I want to know how you verified the delivery."

"I believe it was the doctor who opened the sealed box and took out a pen for me to look at, since I was busy cooking some eggs for Forst's lunch."

 _Hmm… So it was him who first broke the seal on that delivery…_

"Did you use that very pen you inspected as Forst's dose at 1:00 PM?" Dona asked.

"I did. I figured that since it was already out of the box, I'd go ahead and use it. And before you ask, it really was that _ONE_ injection I administered! I didn't give him any more than that!" Nye added in annoyance.

Dona adjusted her glasses as if she was getting ready to say something fantastic. "It's true that you used the one shot, since the medical examiner found only one intramuscular puncture wound. However, what I can't accept is that you actually gave him insulin!"

"W-Why do you say that!? Aren't you supposed to be defending me!?" the nurse shouted. Winston chuckled under his breath, even though everyone could hear him.

"Let me finish, Ms. Eve," Dona said. "According to the autopsy report, the victim died as a result of cerebral hypoxia, but not stemming from an external cause such as strangulation or suffocation. It tells me that whatever was within that particular injection caused him to stop breathing."

"And therein lies the prosecution's-" Winston began.

" _ **OBJECTION.**_ What I'm trying to explain is that Ms. Eve was responsible for dispensing the medication, _not for filling up the syringe itself!_ Whatever she did in the bedroom, she was simply doing it as part of her job! And one of her duties does not involve filling those insulin pens!"

"W-Well, that _is_ true, but…"

"She just said that Dr. Impressa was the one who opened the sealed delivery box and took out that particular pen while she was preoccupied with cooking. If she had a moment to look away, he could have taken that chance to perform the deadly switch!"

"Urk-!"

"Ms. DiPrima? Can I interrupt you for a second?" Nye asked.

"Go ahead," Dona said, but thought, _I don't like that sheepish look in her eyes…_

"It's true that I was cooking lunch and had my hands full, but Dr. Impressa was standing next to me at the counter the whole time so I could get an easy look at the shipment. Since it only took a minute or two for us to verify the package, I don't think he would have had the chance to mess with the pens like you say."

"So he was in your range of vision during the process?"

"Yeah. Furthermore, those pens are not as easy to manipulate as you think."

"You mean as far as swapping out the insulin for something else?"

"Exactly. An individual pen is comprised of an integrated insulin cartridge and a dial to measure the dose. The measuring and filling is already done at Dr. Impressa's pharmacy according to a prescription, and is very difficult to tamper with once it's made. All I have to do is attach a separate pen needle to the end, then dispose the whole thing in a sharps container."

"I see…" Dona tapped her arm thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry for throwing water on your theory there, Ms. DiPrima. I know it's making me look more and more like the culprit, but…"

 _She could have pleaded the fifth, but I don't think she's aware of what that is._

"It's okay. What matters is that you told us the truth. And even if you didn't, I would have asked Dr. Impressa about it as well."

"Oh, right. He can say the same thing too. Heh heh…" Nye chuckled. "But then, where is this leaving us? If it was impossible for him to perform any kind of switch during the delivery, and it was impossible for an overdose of insulin to have occurred, then how did Forst die from cerebral hypoxia if no one attacked him in his room?"

"Your Honor," Dona said to the judge. "If no other possibility exists beyond that one injection as the cause of death, then I suspect that something happened to the insulin pens while they were being prepared at the pharmacy. It was difficult for the pens to be tampered with during the visit, but there is no information regarding their processing prior to it. To that end, I would like to get testimony from Dr. Lude Impressa about this."

"Hmm…" the judge mused. "Yes, I believe the prosecution was going to call him as a witness today."

"Then I will have him take the stand at this point and dispel Ms. DiPrima's doubts," Winston said. "There is also that other matter about him that concerned me, which I have spoken in great depth with him about during our meeting."

"The 'other matter'?"

"You're talking about the falsified initial coroner's report, right?" Dona asked.

"Precisely. Due to the presence of that document, the police investigation had been misled into believing that fatal hypoglycemia was the cause of death. Thanks to my timely intervention, that result has been overturned in favor of our new report."

"Just so we're clear, Dr. Impressa really was the initial medical examiner at the scene, even though he no longer has qualifications to perform autopsies?"

"I called the chief medical examiner about this, and he apologized for his indiscretion. Due to the increasing numbers of seniors in this town, there has been an influx of deaths sweeping the area and his staff have been overworked with these cases. He knew that Dr. Impressa was Forst's brother and that he was in the general area when the incident was reported to him. He called the doctor on his cell phone and asked an emergency favor of him."

"To perform the initial autopsy at the scene, I take it. Dr. Impressa used to be a medical examiner a long time ago, but doesn't work in that department anymore."

The judge shook his head in disappointment and said, "This is a serious breach of professional trust on that hospital's part. Perhaps calling upon the doctor's assistance was convenient for them, but it has caused a tremendous amount of confusion on our part. If we are to receive reliable evidence from them in the future, they must take great care to follow proper ordinances, no matter how overworked or inconvenienced they may be."

"That's just something you'll have to speak with the hospital about, Your Honor," Dona frowned. "Right now, we need testimony from him."

"Very well. Bailiff, bring him to the witness stand!"


	6. Turnabout Apprentice - 6

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Trial: Part 2**

As the officer left to retrieve the doctor from the waiting room, Nye returned to her seat next to Dona and whispered, "Are we really going to be okay? At this rate, I may really be found guilty!"

The student/attorney sighed a little and thought, _She has every right to be worried. If this really is the truth, then Ms. Eve was the only one who could have possibly done this, even though she's absolutely insistent that she's never possessed the mindset to kill him. Even so, I'm confident I've analyzed every aspect of her angle in this case, and the updated report eliminates any doubt about the victim's angle. All I need to do is get Dr. Impressa's side of this story to complete the picture._

 _I think I'm starting to see what Bertie meant when he said for me to get as many details as possible, even if they seem insignificant at first._

"Dona? Did you hear what I just said?"

"Yes, I did. Don't worry; we're still early in this trial, and many details still need to emerge."

"When is that replacement attorney going to get here anyway? It's been at least 30 minutes!"

"There's nothing I can do about that. We just have to press on like this."

The bailiff returned with the stiff-faced doctor, and he gazed upon everyone with clear disinterest. The judge said, "Witness, state your name and profession for the record."

"Lude Impressa. I own an independent pharmacy, and I'm a part-time scrub tech at the local hospital."

"Hmm… What exactly does a scrub tech do? I'm not familiar with the term."

"It's another word for a surgical technician. Basically, I'm the part of a surgical team who assures that the operating room is safe and sterile, the equipment works, and that the operation takes place in a way that ensures patient safety. When I'm not at the hospital, I dispense medication and deliver it as a registered pharmacist to patients who cannot go to the pharmacy themselves."

"Sounds like a big responsibility."

"It's nothing when you've done it hundreds of times."

"How true. It's just like the many times I have handed down verdicts; it just becomes second nature. But I understand that you used to be a mortician in the past, correct?"

"Yeah, I was," Lude confirmed. "I found it a little boring looking at dead bodies though, so I switched to the OR about 30 years ago, and then obtained enough funds to start my own business. I'm someone who likes to be in the middle of the action after all."

"And yet you accepted a request from the chief medical examiner to perform Forst's initial autopsy report at the scene? Why did you not turn it down?"

"Well for one, I was quite surprised to learn that my brother was dead."

"Oh, yes. From my notes here, Forst Impressa was your older brother," the judge said.

"Right. But I also owed some favors to the chief from my time working under him way back when."

"You do realize that the errors on your report have led to a gross misunderstanding of this case, yes? Given these circumstances, I may have to have a word with the chief coroner. Not to mention I have the distinct impression that the defense seeks to place guilt upon you."

 _No need to paint me as someone so dastardly, Your Honor,_ Dona thought sourly.

"Yeah, I get it," Lude muttered with no sign of nervousness. He faced the student and said, "So you're Cybil's intern, huh? I remember you being with that grumpy detective yesterday. Isn't it equally as questionable for you to be standing on that bench defending that nurse?"

 _Trying to call me the pot to your kettle? As Bertie would say, "I don't think so, good sir."_

"Even though my time was tight, I wanted to follow proper protocols to ensure that these proceedings would be fair and lawful. I want to be sure that you shared the same level of ethics when performing your duty, accredited or not," she argued.

"Well, you'll get high marks for sure, young lady. But the real world isn't as textbook as your teachers would like to have you believe."

"We are not here to discuss real world practicality, Dr. Impressa. We need to hear testimony from you regarding two things; the state of the insulin pens that you delivered to Ms. Eve, and the glaring discrepancy concerning your autopsy report that you delivered to the police."

"For someone with such a calm face, you can be quite feisty," Lude murmured. "So what do you want to deal with first, Your Honor?"

The judge said, "Let's keep this in chronological order then. First, let's hear about when you first filled those pens with their medication at your pharmacy."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: Filling Forst's Medication**

Lude said, "Since I was scheduled with a few operations and deliveries for yesterday, I prepared those shots the day before, on October 18. As usual, I filled a month's supply of insulin pens. For Forst, who needed to take it three times a day, that would have been precisely 90 injections to cover it. Each one has to be individually labeled with the patient's name and medication to avoid potential mix ups. Whenever I finish, I have to input my work as complete into the computer."

* * *

"Well… I don't see anything particularly wrong with that," the judge remarked. "And it sounds quite tedious too, from the way you need to label each syringe."

"Lawsuits, Your Honor. Lawsuits," Lude was so blasé that he seemed tempted to roll his eyes in exasperation. He must have held back because the people in the gallery seemed fidgety and doubtful from his blunt words. "When mistakes happen in the medical world, they can be very costly – both for affected families and for business. Since the onus is on us to provide quality care for everyone equally, we have to ensure that there is not even a microscopic opportunity for medical mishaps to occur."

"The opportunities that opened up during this particular case seem less microscopic and more gargantuan," Dona countered.

"How long do you plan on dwelling on that matter? I promise that I'll testify about that later, but let's do this one step at a time, okay?"

"I agree," the judge said. "Ms. DiPrima, please proceed with your cross-examination."

"Yes, sir," she said while thinking, _If that's how it's going to be, then I'll have to take his advice and extract the truth from him 'one step at a time'._

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: Filling Forst's Medication**

" **Since I was scheduled with a few operations and deliveries for yesterday, I prepared those shots the day before, on October 18. As usual, I filled a month's supply of insulin pens."**

 _Yes, the pharmacy's documents that came with the delivery shows that they were filled on October 18._

" **For Forst, who needed to take it three times a day, that would have been precisely 90 injections to cover it."**

 _So that's 30 days for the period between mid-October to mid-November, which means that only 90 pens needed to be filled._

" **Each one has to be individually labeled with the patient's name and medication to avoid potential mix ups."**

 _Again, it comes back to the contents of this lethal syringe not matching up with the order. But there's another reason to doubt the legitimacy of this shipment, and it's thanks to one piece of Mrs. Impressa's new evidence that has yet to be seen in this court!_

" _ **OBJECTION.**_ Although it is rather slight at first glance, there is a contradiction between your dispensing verification and the actual shipment," Dona said while placing a yellow-colored plastic box with a green lid and bio-hazard markings on the table.

"Wait a minute-! Isn't that supposed to be-!?" Lude snarled.

"Ms. DiPrima, what do you have there?" the judge asked.

"Hmm?" Winston adjusted his glasses. "Doesn't that look like a sharps container?"

"Yes, it is," she replied. "More specifically, it's the very same container that Ms. Eve used to safely dispose of any used needles, _including the one that ended Forst's life!_ "

"Where did you get that!? No one from the police found any sort of container like that at the crime scene!"

"Mrs. Impressa left this with me, along with a few instructions. Last night, she called the local medical waste disposal facility and requested that this container be preserved and delivered to her office to be used as evidence. According to the facility, there had been a worker who stopped by Forst's house at 1:15 PM to pick it up."

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that!" Nye exclaimed. "That guy came around then because the container was practically full to the brim and needed to be replaced!"

"Ms. Eve!" Winston barked. "Why didn't you tell me about this until now!?"

"I'm so sorry, sir! I didn't think it had anything to do with this case, so… Oh, I really messed up this time."

"I'll have to have a chat with you about omitting information while under oath!"

"I wasn't 'omitting' anything! I simply forgot!"

"That's no excuse-!"

"Order!" the judge demanded with a slam of his gavel. "Mr. Payne, please save your interrogation regarding Ms. Eve's lapse of memory for another time. Now then, Ms. DiPrima. What is the relevance of this yellow container that Mrs. Impressa left for you?"

"Mr. Payne," Dona said to the prosecutor. "This container is only half of what I need to answer His Honor's question. The other half is in your possession – namely, the box containing Forst's injections. The police had confiscated it for you, right?"

"Yes, they did," Winston frowned. "But I fail to see why you need to know so much about the delivery when Ms. Eve explained the details already."

"There's just one more thing I need to know. Did anyone in the police count the number of injections remaining in the box?"

"The remaining pens…? N-No, I never received any such report from them. Since our stance is that Ms. Eve used one of those to kill Forst, we figured that there would be 89 left."

"The medical waste facility provided a count of the used needles in this sharps container, which includes the two used yesterday – the final one from the September 19 delivery, and the first one from yesterday's box. Furthermore, Dr. Impressa's dispensing report states that 90 individual pens were indeed filled. My question is whether or not our numbers really match. Your Honor, the defense requests that someone unrelated to this case verify how many insulin pens are left in the delivery box. According to the prosecution, there should be 89 left, but we need to be absolutely sure this is correct."

"Bailiff!" the judge ordered. "Retrieve that box and count those syringes immediately!"

The officer rushed out of the courtroom, then returned with the evidence five minutes later and proceeded to do his counting on a table provided for him. During this tense time, Dona noticed the slightly agitated look in Lude's eyes as he glared at the bailiff, as if purposely averting his eyes from her.

 _If that glare is anything to go by, then Mrs. Impressa might have been on to something when she wrote these instructions…_ she thought while reading the note that had Cybil's handwriting on it.

"I'm finished, Your Honor!" the officer announced.

"And? How many were there?" the judge asked.

"I performed the count two times to be sure, but there are positively 90 insulin pens remaining!"

"Wh… Wh… _**WHAAAAAAT!?**_ " Winston shouted.

 _Bingo!_ Dona remained stoic, but clenched her hand in victory.

"This can't be-!" Lude growled.

"Hmm… So Mr. Payne believed there were 89 shots left, right?" the judge wondered, trying to make sense of this discovery. "There's really 90 remaining, which means that none of them had even been touched yet… But wait! Isn't there a used one from this particular shipment in your sharps container, Ms. DiPrima!?"

"Precisely my point, sir," the student nodded. "The defense asserts that Ms. Eve never used any of the insulin pens from the October 19 shipment, even though we have a spent one labeled as insulin filled on October 18 by Dr. Impressa. So if we add this one to the official count, then we have 91 in total. But then that contradicts his dispensing report that 90 were personally filled by him. Certainly this 91st injection didn't just appear out of thin air. _It tells me that this one pen is the real murder weapon!_ "

"So then, where did it come from?"

"For the sake of convenience, let's call our murder weapon 'Shot #91'. Ms. Eve testified that she was at the house the entire day, so she wouldn't have had the opportunity nor the tools needed to fabricate this lethal pen. The only other person we know who could have handled it then was Dr. Impressa. As far as opportunity goes, he is the only possible one who had the chance to create this 'fake insulin pen' at his pharmacy, smuggle it in with the real doses, bring it to the house, and deceive Ms. Eve by handing it directly to her so she could use it out of convenience!"

"Y-You insolent-!" Lude seethed. "How dare you accuse me of such flagrant malpractice! Your argument is based upon nothing but conjecture!"

"Then how do explain the existence of Shot #91!? The timeline from when it was prepared to when it was injected is too fantastic to be mere coincidence!"

"That is…"

Just before they could launch into a fiery debate, a second bailiff barged into the courtroom and saluted while yelling, "I apologize for the intrusion, but there is an emergency!"

"What is it!? We're in the middle of a trial here!" the judge yelled angrily.

"I have a message for Dr. Lude Impressa, Ms. Dona DiPrima and Ms. Nye Eve from the hospital where Mrs. Cybil Impressa was sent to!"

"What's the situation there?" Dona asked, trying to keep calm for her frantic defendant's sake.

"I regret to inform the court that she… _Has passed away just now!_ "

" _ **WHAT!?"**_ Lude barked. "My wife is dead!?"

Dona widened her eyes. She couldn't believe it. The motherly lady who took her hand and helped her take her baby steps into the world of law… _gone_!? Just like that!?

The astonished audience chatted amongst themselves in not-so-hushed murmurs. The judge slammed his gavel several times and commanded, "Order! Order in the court!"

"T-This can't be happening!" Nye shuddered. "What happened to her!? Why did she die!?"

"I don't know…" Dona whispered.

The bailiff continued, "I only just received this news from the coroner. An autopsy is being performed posthaste to determine the cause of death."

"Your Honor," Winston said, "although these circumstances are most unfortunate, we still have a trial to conclude. Mrs. Impressa's passing away doesn't have any relevance to the proceedings."

"Even so, she was still the defendant's lawyer and our witness' husband. In addition, Mrs. Impressa's intern has been forced into an uncompromising situation. I cannot imagine anyone in her position being capable of defending their client after hearing such news. Bailiff, how long will it take for the replacement lawyer to arrive?" the judge asked.

"I contacted him shortly after the hospital called, but he's still at the hospital speaking to the medical examiner. I'm afraid he won't be able to arrive in time even if you requested a recess."

"I see… Perhaps we should take a 20 minute recess anyway to let the defense calm down. I wouldn't want to force a student to defend without sorting out the facts first."

"Yes, that would be good," Winston agreed, his smile curling with malicious intent. "Twenty minutes should give the witness time to come to grips with his wife's death before continuing his testimony. In addition, I would like to examine the evidence that Mrs. Impressa left in your care, Ms. DiPrima."

"Y-Yes… that would be… most helpful…" Lude muttered.

Dona realized she was in trouble. If Winston and Lude were allowed to reconvene with Cybil's collection of evidence, they could alter it without anyone seeing them. She couldn't let them go!

"Y-Your Honor…" she yelped.

"Hm? What is it, Ms. DiPrima?"

"I-I'm… I'm okay. I can still keep going…" Despite her assurances, beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks, and she kept adjusting her glasses that kept sliding down her slickened nose.

"Are you sure? You don't look so well," Winston asked. "Can you defend your client after losing your only pillar of support?"

 _Someone's trying to play the villain card, huh?_

"I will… I have to…"

"Hey, come on, let's just have that recess," Nye implored. "It's obvious that you're upset. Let's sit in the lobby and have you cool down for a bit. I'm in shock too, you know. She was supposed to defend me today anyway, not you."

"I can't… I…"

The judge shook his head. "Overruled. You cannot perform your duties like this. Take a break and calm your nerves."

Dona felt defeated. Although she knew they were concerned for her, she also felt ganged upon. From her point of view, everyone's faces turned into pale, grey, empty stares all focused on her. It was happening again – she always felt nervous when singled out within a crowd. There was no one she could turn to for help. She wanted to run away and hide under her bed covers.

 _Is this what it's like to be a defendant…?_

The judge raised his gavel and was about to slam it to make his word official…

" _ **OBJECTION!"**_


	7. Turnabout Apprentice - 7

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Trial: Part 3**

A man's voice resounded throughout the courtroom. Winston's hysterical gasp made him reel in shock. The judge visibly blinked several times. Lude clenched his teeth. Dona looked around to see who it was that so boldly cut through the anxiety. Then she found him… right next to her on the defense bench! It was the blue-suited man she saw earlier. His eyes were confident and calm, not showing any sign of wavering. But the most reassuring trait she noticed about him was the defense attorney's badge pinned to his lapel.

"Your Honor," the man called out, "I object to having a 20 minute recess."

"Y-You're-!" Winston howled.

"Could it be!?" the judge exclaimed. "Why, but it is! I never expected to see you here!"

"I didn't have any work, so I came here to be part of the gallery. However, I felt compelled to intervene with today's proceedings."

"Are you…?" Dona's eyes widened. "That lawyer from four years ago?"

"You know this guy?" Nye asked.

"If it's the same man, then..."

"Hey, Dona," he smiled broadly. "It's been a while. You look as sharp as you did back then."

"It _is_ you, Mr. Wright!"

"Wait… Wright?" the nurse murmured. "As in _Phoenix Wright!?_ "

"Yes. I had met him a while ago."

"Let's not dwell on the past for now," Phoenix said. "We need to focus on this case."

"You say that, but by 'we', you mean-?"

"Mr. Wright, aside from potentially being found in contempt of court, may I ask why you object to granting Ms. DiPrima and Dr. Impressa a recess?" the judge asked. "It's obvious that they are in shock from Mrs. Impressa's passing."

"I know. But Ms. DiPrima assured that she could continue. Since it's certain that Mrs. Impressa's associate will not be coming, I felt compelled to step in as the official replacement. I will provide Ms. DiPrima with the support she needs to continue her cross-examinations."

"What about the witness? He's in shock too, you know," Winston countered. "He deserves to sit down and clear his mind as well."

"That's true. However, there isn't much testimony left for him to give, is there? Even if his memories are in disarray, we can point out the contradictions and bring the facts to light on his behalf."

"Yes, that is sound reasoning. Well then, if the witness does not object, then I will allow Mr. Wright to intervene so we can continue with the proceedings. No point in stretching this out any longer than we need to, yes?" the judge asked Lude.

"… Fine, have it your way," the old man snorted. "I don't want to waste my time here either."

"Mr. Wright…" Dona murmured.

"Sorry about causing so much excitement," Phoenix apologized. "But I know what Payne is like, and he would have taken advantage of the recess to fix Mrs. Impressa's evidence to his liking. I think you realized that too, right? That's why you insisted upon staying."

"Yes. This is the last thing she's left for me, after all."

"And besides," his face turned grim, "Payne just said that you lost your pillar of support. I know what it's like to lose your mentor all of a sudden. I wasn't as young as you, but I was still wet behind the ears during that time. That's why I will be your co-counsel for the remainder of this trial. So don't worry about feeling overwhelmed. Focus on finding the truth so you can clear your client's name and make Mrs. Impressa proud of you."

"Absolutely," Dona nodded, feeling a lot calmer and relaxed from their pep talk.

"Are you two done whispering over there?" the impatient Winston asked. "I think it's time our witness gave his testimony."

"Right," Phoenix said. "So before the interruption, the defense wished to know how the murder weapon, the so-called Shot #91, was prepared and smuggled into the delivery box. Since the sharps container proves that it was improperly labeled as insulin, and that the dispensing report only states that 90 were made, there is a clear violation of preparation on the pharmacy's part. Can you explain this discrepancy, Dr. Impressa?"

Lude murmured, "I think you're making a bigger deal of this than necessary, but I'll testify anyway if it'll make you happy, Mr. Wright."

"Please do."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: Prepping Shot #91**

Lude said, "In reality, it hadn't been me who filled those pens on the 18th. I was busy during that day and asked one of my coworkers to do it on my behalf. I only had time to sign off on his prep. He did everything right though, so I had no reason to suspect that there had been a single pen with a different medication mixed in with the other 90 insulin shots."

* * *

"So you can have other pharmacists do the filling for you?" the judge asked.

"Of course," the doctor grinned and nodded. "I essentially work two different jobs. Although I love my work, it also makes me a very busy man. As if that wasn't enough, I had to make time in my schedule every 19th of the month to go to Forst's place to deliver his meds personally, since he didn't trust anyone else to do it."

"It sounds like he had some issues with other doctors in the past."

"No, nothing of the sort. He was just too clingy with me."

"Even so," Phoenix said, "The only signature we see on the dispensing form is yours. There should be a second one from the second pharmacist."

"He's a new guy, just like that girl standing next to you. He's still quite inexperienced and has a lot to learn about proper procedures. If it's shown that he was the one who filled that shot that killed my brother, I'll have to have him arrested for malpractice."

Dona didn't look convinced though. Phoenix caught the look of doubt in her eyes and remarked, "You're not buying his story, are you?"

"All of these medical mistakes are just turning out to be too convenient for him," she said. "We could always call the pharmacy and verify if someone else did the dispensing for him, but I'm beginning to trust him less and less the more we hear about what goes on there."

"Don't worry. We still have our own way to determine if he's telling the truth."

"How so, Mr. Wright?"

"There's still someone on this case that you're forgetting. If anyone can do it, it's someone who derives answers purely based upon scientific analysis."

 _Based upon scientific- Oh!_ Dona's eyes lit up in realization.

"You get what I'm talking about. Now make him prove his words – scientifically!"

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: Prepping Shot #91**

" **In reality, it hadn't been me who filled those pens on the 18th. I was busy during that day and asked one of my coworkers to do it on my behalf."**

" _ **HOLD IT**_ ," Dona commanded. "What is the identity of this coworker?"

"Since I was in a hurry, I gave it to a new guy. I can't remember his name at the top of my head though."

The judge shook his head. "I'm afraid that won't be sufficient. If this new pharmacist really was the one responsible for filling the injections, then we need to know who he is."

"Sorry about that, Your Honor," Lude shrugged. "Like I said, I'm always busy and don't have time to memorize names. You can always call the pharmacy and ask though."

Phoenix said, "Let's be sure that it really wasn't you who dispensed the insulin first before calling them. On another note, you said you were busy during the 18th. What were you doing that day?"

"Mostly in the OR. I believe I had five surgeries scheduled that day, which you can verify with the hospital. **I only had time to sign off on his prep."**

" _ **HOLD IT.**_ If you had time to sign off on the filling, then you had time to fill the pens yourself, yes?" Dona asked.

"When I say 'I only had time', it means for about five minutes. I finished three of my operations and had to stop by the pharmacy for an unrelated matter before proceeding to the fourth one. When you've got 90 pens to fill with a specific amount of insulin, it takes you a lot longer than five minutes to do it."

 _I guess so…_

" **He did everything right though, so I had no reason to suspect that there had been a single pen with a different medication mixed in with the other 90 insulin shots."**

" _ **HOLD IT.**_ 'He did everything right'? You just said he forgot to sign off on it!"

"Well, I _thought_ he did everything right. I probably need to amend that part, huh?"

The judge nodded. "Yes, there is a significant difference between 'thinking' and 'knowing' that the job was done right. Although with your busy schedule, I'm sure such a mistake is inevitable."

"I'm glad you understand, Your Honor. **I only thought he did everything right. Therefore, I had no reason to suspect that-"**

" _ **OBJECTION,**_ " Dona stopped him mid-sentence.

"Ghak! Dona, what are you doing!?" Phoenix barked.

"Ms. DiPrima!" Winston shouted. "Don't interrupt with an objection before listening to the witness' full testimony!"

"Oh, um…" the student winced. "I'm sorry, Dr. Impressa. I just assumed that-"

"Meh, whatever. I was just going to repeat the last part of my original statement anyway. You saved me from wasting my breath," Lude dismissed the astonished professionals. "So what do you object to, young lady?"

"Whether your story is true or not, _someone_ had to have handled the pens, right?"

"Do I even need to answer such rhetoric? They don't just fill themselves!"

"Okay. And do you wear gloves when dispensing medications?"

Lude's eye suddenly twitched. "N-No… Independent pharmacists don't have to wear gloves. They would get in the way of accurately counting a large number of pills and filling syringes with liquid medicine."

"Are the syringes you receive brand new and sterile prior to being filled?"

"S-Straight from the factory… Untouched by anyone beforehand…"

"Ms. Eve," Dona addressed the nurse. "When you gave Forst his shot at 1:00 PM, did you wear gloves?"

"No, I didn't," Nye answered.

"In that case, Detective Skye should be present at this trial, yes?"

"Here I am!" the female investigator announced her presence, taking Lude's place on the witness stand.

"Detective, I think you understand where I'm going with this line of inquiry. But just to clarify for everyone in the court, Dr. Impressa verified that independent pharmacists don't have to wear gloves when dispensing medication. _Ergo, there should be fingerprints remaining on the insulin pens!_ "

"Urk-!" Lude and Winston yelped simultaneously. The people in the gallery murmured among themselves, and the judge slammed his gavel commanding for order.

Ema looked excited to get to work, but said anyway, "So I just need to check one of these untouched syringes for fingerprints and compare them to people related to this case?"

"Yes. The bailiff used gloves when he did his counting earlier, so he can be excluded," Dona nodded. "Also, I would like you to examine the pen that Ms. Eve used at 1:00 PM yesterday. This should be the only one that has two sets of prints on it; the dispensing pharmacist's, and Ms. Eve's."

"I'm on it!" Ema got to work performing her examination by sprinkling fingerprint powder on a random pen from the box, extracting a set of clear prints. She said to Dona, "Only one set of unique prints have been found. You want me to compare them with Dr. Impressa's prints on file?"

"Please do."

She did just that, and the comparison matched.

"Well, well," Phoenix remarked, staring firmly at the nervous doctor. "Looks like there's no need to call the pharmacy about your so-called 'inexperienced new guy'."

"And now for the _coup de_ _grâce_ ," Dona added. "Detective, please analyze Shot #91 for us the same way, but also include Ms. Eve alongside Dr. Impressa in your search."

Ema borrowed the sharps container and performed her second examination. When she was done, she reported, "It's just like you said, Ms. DiPrima. I found both of their prints on the murder weapon."

" _ **This can't be real!"**_ Winston shouted, incredulous that he was being defeated by a high school student. "Witness! What is the meaning of this!?"

"… Fine, I admit it," Lude muttered. "It's true that I filled the insulin pens on the 18th."

"So you had the time to do the dispensing yourself despite your claim that you were too busy to do so," the judge affirmed. "Witness, Ms. Eve has already been reminded of her civic duty to testify truthfully while under oath. Do I need to do the same with you?"

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Your Honor. With the way the defense is casting suspicion upon me, I felt I had no choice but to protect myself."

 _Pretty sure that's the whole point of lying,_ Dona thought.

"T-Then if the witness filled the insulin… It means he could have had the chance to prepare the murder weapon… So what does that mean if…?" Winston grumbled. Suddenly, he winced in pain and clenched his suit. "Urk-! Gggh!"

"Mr. Payne?" Dona uttered.

Phoenix looked shocked as he asked, "Are you okay!?"

"T-This is… nothing… Gaaagh!" The older man sweated so much that his clothes became drenched.

"Mr. Payne!" the judge shouted. "Please control yourself!"

"It's my… heart…! It… hurts…!"

Lude rushed to Winston's side and exclaimed, "He's suffering from cardiac arrest! Your Honor, he needs medical attention immediately!"

"Bailiff, call for an ambulance!" the judge ordered. "We will have an emergency recess until Mr. Payne's condition is resolved!"

"I'll help out!" Nye yelled and ran to the fallen prosecutor to help Lude with administering first aid.

* * *

 **October 20, 2031**

 **11:00 AM**

 **District Court – Defendant Lobby No. 1**

"Well," Phoenix muttered grimly. "I never thought _this_ would happen."

Dona sighed while rubbing her head. "First Mrs. Impressa dies, and now Prosecutor Payne has to go to the hospital…"

"Although Payne isn't known for his subtlety, I'm glad there were two medical professionals right on hand to help him out. I have to commend Ms. Eve for assisting Dr. Impressa even though she's being accused of murder. It just goes to show that doctors and nurses must always work together to handle an emergency crisis, no matter what's going on or where they are."

"Yes. They're needed now more than ever since the community is aging so rapidly."

"Man, to think this would happen to Payne, of all people. You know, he was the very first prosecutor I ever went up against in my rookie days. The same's true for one of my partners," the attorney reminisced.

"So we have something in common," the student realized. "I'm so glad you volunteered to be my co-counsel, Mr. Wright. I would have been at a total loss if I was by myself during Mr. Payne's heart attack."

"Don't mention it. A job has to be done, no matter how old or young we are. Besides, with all of these twists and turns happening, I think I'm ready to have a heart attack of my own."

"Please don't."

"Hah hah hah, don't you worry. I still have plenty of life in me."

Dona then said, "So if the prosecutor for this case has fallen ill during the middle of the trial, what are they going to do so the proceedings can continue?"

"The judge has two decisions. He can speak with the Chief Prosecutor to appoint a replacement prosecutor right away, such as what happened with the defense needing to be replaced on an emergency basis today. Or else, he can suspend the trial until tomorrow."

"But the new prosecutor needs to be properly informed of the case as it stands. I don't think a recess would be enough time for them."

"Then I guess it'll have to be delayed for tomorrow. If all of this craziness had happened on the second available day of deliberations, _then_ he would've been in a tight pickle."

"No doubt about that," Dona agreed. "So whatever the judge does, it doesn't change how it's been proven that Dr. Impressa was the one who filled those 91 injections."

To her surprise, Phoenix's expression suddenly looked dire. "That's not what I heard from him."

"What do you mean? He just admitted to preparing that shipment on the 18th!"

"That's true for the other 90 pens. But what about that 91st shot? He didn't clearly state that he filled that one on the 18th."

She thought back to what the doctor said and realized that Phoenix had a point. "So you mean that he could've had that done at any other time?"

"Or else he can argue that someone is trying to frame him. There's just too much leeway for him to counter that some Mystery Person X knew how he made the pens and fabricated the lethal dose to make it look identical to the insulin shots. I don't know what motive he'll have under his sleeve, but from the way he's been using vague statements to work in his favor, he might use some kind of imaginary grudge against him. If he doesn't do that, he could always try blaming Ms. Eve by saying she snuck in some kind of poison into the house and switched out the insulin for it after he left. The timeline gives he plenty of time to pull off such a maneuver."

"Speaking of which, we don't know what substance is actually in Shot #91, do we?"

"Did you take a good look at Mrs. Impressa's evidence her partner gave you?" Phoenix asked.

"Just the sharps container and the report of what needles were present," Dona said while reading the documents. He joined her in the examination, and they spent the next few minutes poring through everything.

"Hmm?" he murmured. "Hey, I think I found what we're looking for. I'm amazed Mrs. Impressa went this far to find everything out."

"Can I see, Mr. Wright?"

He gave her the paper, which turned out to be a detailed toxicology report on the contents of Shot #91.

"This is rather hard for me to interpret," Dona admitted. "I know nothing about drugs and substances other that the popular ones the media talks about."

"That's okay. We can always ask Dr. Impressa, since he's a pharmacist," Phoenix grinned. "We can also ask him how widely available this substance is to the public, which can prove or disprove if Ms. Eve had access to it."

"At last, another piece of legitimate evidence."

Right when they made this discovery, they heard the door knocking. Nye entered, escorted by a bailiff, and said, "There you are."

"How's Prosecutor Payne faring?" Phoenix asked.

"He was just wheeled in the ambulance and being taken to the hospital. He insisted on staying though; he kept saying that he still needed to 'defeat the rookie' or whatever. Dr. Impressa managed to talk him out of it."

"Phew. That's the last thing we need – a stubborn man denying the importance of his age."

"I'm guessing you didn't hear anything about what the prosecution was going to do?" Dona asked.

"I don't know anything about that."

"Actually, Ms. DiPrima," the bailiff stated with a salute. "His Honor wanted me to inform you that the trial will proceed as scheduled."

"Then there's a replacement prosecutor ready?"

"I caught a glimpse of a young woman with the judge and Chief Prosecutor. At first I thought it was you, but she acted totally different from you. They're in the judge's chambers right now, and since you're in here, it can't be you."

"You thought it was-? Oh…" Dona went pale.

"I'm not following you here," Nye said. "You thought it was Dona, but it wasn't her?"

"You mean she looked similar?" Phoenix added.

"Not _similar_ , Mr. Wright. She looked _exactly_ like Ms. DiPrima!" the bailiff yelped in surprise.

"So that's what's going on…" Dona sighed in exasperation.

"You know who this woman is?" Nye wondered.

"You'll see when court resumes. I don't want to say anything until I'm absolutely positive, but I think I know who the new prosecutor is, and she's familiar with the case details."

The others looked at each other in bewilderment, perplexed as to what the student was talking about.

* * *

 **October 20, 2031**

 **11:30 AM**

 **District Court – Courtroom No. 1**

The judge slammed his gavel and announced, "Court will now reconvene for the trial of Ms. Nye Eve. Due to Mr. Payne's sudden medical condition, a new prosecutor has been called in to replace him for the remainder of these proceedings."

Dona stared intently at the new prosecutor standing directly across from her.

"Are you prepared to continue, Ms. DiPrima?"

"Yes, I am," both Dona and the prosecutor replied simultaneously.

"Erm… In all of my years as a judge, I don't think I've ever had this happen. I'll have to address you two with different titles if we're to avoid confusion."

Phoenix looked totally exasperated as he muttered to Dona, "So _this_ is what you were talking about…"

"Mr. Wright, please meet my twin sister, Diva DiPrima," she gestured to the other girl. "We're both attending Themis Legal Academy, but she is taking the prosecutor course."

" _ **OH HOH HOH HOH!**_ " Diva laughed like a… well, a diva. She flipped open her fan and posed with the flair of a supermodel. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Ace Attorney! I've been watching the show from the gallery, and I have to extend my heartfelt thanks for you coming to my Lil' Sis's rescue earlier."

"Oh, uh… You're welcome," the lawyer scratched his head sheepishly and grinned.

"But now you better watch yourselves, because I intend to expose everything with so much pizzazz that your eyes will be dazzled!"

"Um… Sure. So just how up-to-date are you with this case, Prosecutor DiPrima?"

"I've been interning under Mr. Payne's instruction at the Prosecutor's Office since the semester began, and he wanted me to prepare the case for him during yesterday's investigation. After he collapsed earlier, the judge summoned me to his chambers along with the Chief Prosecutor and we spoke about my current knowledge of the case. Naturally, I demonstrated enough for them to be satisfied with me standing here on Mr. Payne's behalf for today. Should His Honor deem it necessary to extend the trial to tomorrow, then the Chief will appoint an official prosecutor and have them take over, and I will function as their assistant."

"By Chief Prosecutor, you're talking about Edgeworth, right?"

"How rude!" Diva shouted. "That's _Mr._ Edgeworth to you, good sir!"

"Er, yeah… _Mr._ Edgeworth, right," Phoenix mumbled.

Nye kept glancing back and forth between the twins and said to Dona, "It's just amazing how much you two look like each other, and yet your personalities are so different! It's practically giving me the chills! A courtroom clash between a Red Titan and a Blue Titan!"

" _ **OH HOH HOH HOH!**_ Ain't that the truth, sweetheart!" Diva exclaimed, but then dropped the haughty attitude and became determined as she thrust her hand with the fan forth. "But let's not make any mistake! Ever since we began pursuing our careers, Dona and I have only had one goal; to find the truth! We may have decided to go different ways, but our battle shall always be the same! We are not in the business of seeking hollow victories or favorable results!"

The judge nodded with sincere appreciation of Diva's resolve. "Yes, that is how it should be, Prosecutor DiPrima. The courts need people like you to revive our dying justice system with the vigor it needs. I look forward to the day when I will preside over trials with you as a true prosecutor."

"Of course, Your Honor. The courtroom stage has been populated with harlequins and raspberries for far too long. Now it is time for new stars to shine, today and onward!"

"I'm sorry, but… Raspberries?" Phoenix asked.

Dona explained, "Her term for terrible actors."

"Let's not drag this introduction on longer than needed!" Diva announced. "Attorney DiPrima, are you ready to share the spotlight with me!?"

Her sister nodded boldly. "The defense is ready. Please summarize for the court what has transpired up to this point."

"With pleasure! During the course of these proceedings, several new facts have come to light. One is that the new autopsy report revealed that the victim died due to cerebral hypoxia resulting from administering an unknown substance into an unusual intramuscular injection. The defense established that while Dr. Impressa is indeed the one who recommended the switch in injection sites and had prepared the insulin shots – of which 91 were prepared, rather than the reported 90 - he was not the one who actually performed the administration of this fatal dose to Forst.

"Furthermore, there is no evidence that the doctor actually filled the so-called Shot #91 himself. Although the police were unable to find any suspicious substances in Forst's house, we must verify as to whether or not Ms. Eve herself could have smuggled a fatal substance and disposed of it in such a manner that it wouldn't be discovered."

"We've scientifically proven that Dr. Impressa handled the 91 syringes, so we can say that he properly filled the other 90 as reported," Dona said. "However, we can't yet call it a concrete confession of him actually _filling_ Shot #91."

"Why can't it be considered conclusive, Attorney DiPrima?" the judge asked.

"There are plenty of scenarios that can be taken into account for this discrepancy. As Dr. Impressa has demonstrated, he has a penchant for telling falsities, so we must ensure that we eliminate as many of these scenarios as possible."

"Hah," Lude scoffed. "Not sugarcoating it, are we?"

" _ **QUIET!**_ " Diva commanded. "If you don't want your grave dug up any deeper than it already is, then keep your lips sealed until ordered to!"

"Kuh-!" the doctor gasped at how impetuous the new prosecutor was.

"Wow, why is _she_ getting angry with the witness?" Phoenix uttered.

"She has no patience for liars," Dona replied. "Since she's responsible for calling any witnesses, it would reflect badly on her if it's revealed that they lied. If a witness wastes the court's time, then she has likewise done the same by bringing them here in the first place. You could liken it to a director choosing the right actors for his movie and getting frustrated when they don't turn out how he expected."

"A 'running the show' type, huh?"

"Precisely."

"So!" Diva exclaimed. "What we need to know is that, with existing evidence as our basis, could Ms. Eve have had the chance to sneak in any form of poison or fatal overdose after Dr. Impressa left the house? For that, I will need Ms. Eve to take center stage once again and testify!"

" _ **OBJECTION.**_ The nursing agency that she works for orders its employees to wear GPS devices during working hours, and she needs to report in several times a day. Such a strict schedule doesn't give her the chance to leave the house without good reason," Dona said.

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ During _working hours_ , yes! But what about when she 'punches out', per se?"

"Her hours are on a 12/7 basis. She begins at 9:00 AM and finishes at 9:00 PM, maybe even later if she needs to stay up to administer evening medication to her patients. Such a work day has to wear her out enough that she needs a full night's rest. When could she have had the time to fall out of the agency's radar and sneak in some kind of poison? Especially considering that she needed to hide this from a patient who had a habit of scouring through the house and neighborhood for ladies' undergarments. Doesn't that tell you that Forst was an intrusive and thorough man who could have found such a poison during one of his obscene hunts?"

"We can't speak for how nosy the victim was," Diva said. "All we can determine is if the defendant was capable of smuggling some kind of fatal substance into the house beyond Dr. Impressa's delivery. If it's proven that even a shred of an opportunity exists, then that will cast doubt upon her innocence!"

Dona glanced at the anxious Nye and said, "I suppose there's no way around it. Can you testify about your schedule and if you were able to retrieve and dispose of any poison without the police finding it?"

"Of course I wouldn't have!" the nurse objected. "Why doesn't she just call the agency to-"

"She wants to know if you can do any sort of illicit activity when your GPS device was not in use after you signed out for the day. Let's say you went out during the middle of the night to meet with someone that you bought poison from while Forst was asleep."

"I wouldn't do something like that! I would go straight to bed after I finished for the day!"

"The prosecution's doubt needs to be cleared up regardless. Don't panic; Mr. Wright and I found something that will definitely prove you're not the one who brought any sort of toxic substance to the house. It'd be best if we unveiled this fact during your cross-examination though so we're following proper procedure."

"Oh, all right."


	8. Turnabout Apprentice - 8

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Trial: Part 4**

 **TESTIMONY: A Nurse's Daily Schedule**

Nye said, "I wake up at 9:00 AM every morning to prepare Forst's insulin and medications. Since I'm an in-home caregiver, I remain at the house at all times to ensure the patient is under constant supervision. If I have to leave, I let my supervisors know and go to the place in question, then come straight back. My GPS can show the agency if I attempt to go anywhere other than specified. Then I make my final call before going to bed at 9:00 PM."

* * *

"So far you've been consistent with your work schedule not giving you any leeway to leave your patient for long periods of time," the judge remarked. "Can I ask for the reasoning behind your agency enforcing such strict regulations?"

"It's because there have been cases of nursing neglect and abuse leading to patient depression, suicide, and negligent death. Their families have filed major lawsuits against other agencies, so my employer enacted these policies to ensure these incidents don't happen again," Nye explained.

"Even if they're regulating your daytime hours, that doesn't tell us much about your nighttime hours," Diva said. "I still have my doubts as to whether or not you keep your GPS device on you even while sleeping. But I'm sure Attorney DiPrima will find that out for us, won't she?"

Dona nodded. _If Mr. Wright and I didn't find that one document in Mrs. Impressa's package, we would have danced around this issue all day and not get anywhere. I need to redirect Diva's focus from Ms. Eve's intangible working habits to the concrete information that she doesn't know about yet._

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: A Nurse's Daily Schedule**

" **I wake up at 9:00 AM every morning to prepare Forst's insulin and medications."**

" _ **HOLD IT.**_ Where do you sleep every night?" Dona asked.

"Although I have my own apartment, I actually live at the patient's home as a temporary boarder," Nye said.

"So the patient's family has to arrange for your sleeping accommodations prior to your deployment at the house?"

"Right. The agency assesses the patient and their living conditions to determine the level of care necessary."

"You say that the living conditions are part of their assessment, but you do realize how decrepit Forst's house was, right? How could the agency send you there if they knew it was in such a state of disrepair?"

"Oh, they knew, all right. They repeatedly tried to convince Forst to move into one of their nursing homes rather than sending their nurses there. But they also have to take the patient's wishes and mental status into account, and he was what you would call 'cantankerous'. So I was sent there with orders to report on the state of the house in case the agency felt the patient and I were in any danger. The number of nurses quitting while caring for Forst actually had to do with the house itself, not the patient's personality."

"I remember Dr. Impressa mentioning that the previous nurses were male, and that you were the first female ever sent there," Dona said. "If they had been female as well, I could understand why so many of them quit due to his behavior. I was rather puzzled as to why so many men had left instead, but if they were afraid of the house rather than the patient, then it makes sense."

"Exactly! To be honest, I was on the verge of quitting as well, but I needed the income badly," Nye replied. "The agency had done all it could to ensure my safety, so they told me to update them on my living conditions periodically. This was all in addition to my regular duties. **Since I'm an in-home caregiver, I remain at the house at all times to ensure the patient is under constant supervision."**

 _Especially for someone like Forst who had progressing dementia and could injure himself._

" **If I have to leave, I let my supervisors know and go to the place in question, then come straight back. My GPS can show the agency if I attempt to go anywhere other than specified. Then I make my final call before going to bed at 9:00 PM."**

" _ **HOLD IT.**_ So let's say you needed to go to the supermarket, then you wanted to stop by the hair salon for a personal haircut," Dona said. "You thus told the agency you wanted to run both errands before leaving."

"I can go to the supermarket, but not to the salon," Nye explained. "All of my outings are to be directly related to the patient's needs. Any personal errands must be handled during off-duty hours."

"But you work on a 12/7 schedule. How do you make time to run any personal errands with such a strict timetable?"

"To compensate for our long working hours, we're allowed to apply for a week of vacation once every two months. The agency has many backup nurses available to cover for us during those weeks. I was actually going to apply for a break for the first week of November, and I had one earlier the first week of September."

"Are your working conditions detailed during the hiring process so you're aware of the regulations?"

"Yes, the agency will select a group of candidates, then gather them for a day-long seminar. After it's over, the candidates can decide if the job is right for them or not. As you can tell, I accepted the offer."

"So when all is said and done, you simply don't have the time nor opportunity to obtain any sort of illegal substance to use for the murder."

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Diva shouted. "Didn't you hear Ms. Eve say she can take a week off every two months!? Since she wouldn't be on duty, she wouldn't have to wear the GPS device, right!?"

"Er… Right, I don't," Nye shuddered.

" _ **OBJECTION.**_ We could refute her time and opportunity all day if we wanted," Dona interjected. "But there's one thing you're not taking into account, Prosecutor DiPrima."

"Ohhhh? And what would _that_ be?" Diva asked with venom in her voice.

"Her level of access."

"'Level of access'? What are you going on about!?"

"You're aware of restrictions on the dispensing of certain drugs and medications, right? For example, anyone in the public can purchase ColdKiller X and Sleepy zZz over the counter. The next level of access would be needing a doctor's prescription for medications like antibiotics, mood stabilizers, and weight loss treatments, just to name a few. Then we take it a step further with narcotics that need to be tightly regulated for medical use so they won't be abused recreationally."

"Okay. So how is this relevant with the case?"

"Ms. Eve, are you able to write prescriptions for your patients?"

Nye visibly blinked and answered, "No, I don't have such qualifications. I can buy OTC medications, but I need to call the doctor's office to have a script filled. That's what I had to do with Forst's insulin injections since the dosage was so precise."

"Good. Now, I would like to present this piece of evidence that Mrs. Impressa delivered to me," Dona said while giving two copies to the bailiff for Diva and the judge to read.

"What exactly are we looking at here, Attorney DiPrima?" the judge asked. "I can tell it's related to medicine, but I can't make heads or tails of this gobbledygook."

"This is a toxicology report that the medical waste facility performed on Shot #91. Since it's proven that insulin was not present in this pen, its contents thus needed to be analyzed to determine what exactly caused Forst to have cerebral hypoxia."

"Oh, that's right! We still don't know what was contained in the murder weapon! So after Mrs. Impressa told them to preserve the sharps container, she then asked them to analyze the pen in question?"

"That's the most logical conclusion. Unfortunately, I'm not a medical professional, so I can't answer to what the toxicology report states. I believe Dr. Impressa can fill us in though, since he's a pharmacist and a surgical technician."

Lude grumbled and read the report. "This is positive for… succinylcholine…"

"Sexy-cholera-reen?" the judge horribly fumbled the word.

"Er… We in the medical world call it 'sux' for short."

"Oh, that's easy to remember. So, doctor, what is this supposed to be?"

"Mmmph…" the pharmacist hesitated in answering the question.

Diva commanded, "His Honor is asking for your professional opinion here!"

"Or is there a problem with you answering?" Dona asked firmly. "You're the only one here who can tell us what this substance is, so-"

As if on cue, the twins yelled together, _**"Answer the question!"**_

"Kuuuhhh…" Lude growled and sweated. "F-Fine… Suxamethonium chloride is a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, used to induce muscle relaxation and-"

"Doctor, please keep your answer concise so everyone can understand," the judge ordered.

"Right… It's a drug that induces paralysis. Of any known paralytic, sux has the fastest onset time, so it is widely used in conjunction with analgesics and sedatives for surgery that requires endotracheal intubation… Or in simple terms, sticking a breathing tube down the trachea. This is especially vital for trauma care where a tube needs to be inserted immediately in a comatose patient."

"I see. So it's a powerful, fasting-acting paralytic. And this toxicology report states that this 'sux' was present in the murder weapon."

"Just so we're clear," Phoenix said, "can we include paralysis of the lungs as part of sux's functions?"

"I just said that a breathing tube needs to be inserted when a patient has been injected with it. The patient's entire neural system is incapacitated, which also includes breathing functions," Lude replied.

"So if Forst was injected with sux in that one intramuscular site and didn't have a breathing tube inserted in a timely manner, it would explain how he died from cerebral hypoxia without an insulin overdose."

"Yes, that would be the case."

Dona asked him, "What is the physical appearance of sux?"

Lude explained hesitantly, "It's a clear fluid resembling water."

"Does insulin look the same?"

"… Yes, both substances appear very similar."

"So let's go back to my incorrect assumption that you could have switched the insulin out for a different substance. The only reasonable method we have left for bringing sux to the house was through smuggling it in the box of insulin shots. For the plan to work, Ms. Eve had to have never suspected that the pen you showed her – that being the murder weapon – contained anything other than insulin, and that it looked practically identical to the other pens in the box."

"Y-You're saying that my eyes were deceived!?" Nye exclaimed.

"Precisely. Dr. Impressa tricked your eyes by showing you a pen with a clear fluid in it, but you had no idea it was a substance other than insulin. If, say for instance, a red-colored fluid was filled in Shot #91 instead, you would suspect that something was wrong right away. By using a clear-colored fluid as the murderous substance, you were thus led to believe he had shown you insulin, and you signed off on the delivery none the wiser."

"No way…"

"The medical examiner also performed a biopsy, but couldn't find anything suggesting any sort of foreign drug. Am I safe to assume that sux's components can be naturally found in the body as well, Dr. Impressa?"

"Yes, they can be…" Lude murmured.

"So let's return to my original argument," Dona said. "In the entire medical profession, who is able to access this potentially dangerous medication? With such a fast onset time and dangerous consequences, I can't imagine it being distributed _en masse_ for any possible reason."

"While it's a necessary medication for surgeries, it is not sold to the public for those very reasons…"

"Which means-!" Diva gasped in horror and clenched her teeth.

"Precisely my point, Prosecutor DiPrima," her sister nodded. "As a nurse in training with a strict schedule, Ms. Eve could not have possibly had that kind of access to sux. However… _It's an entirely different story for a part-time scrub tech like Dr. Impressa!_ "

" _ **EEEEEEKK!"**_ Diva screamed and grabbed her skirt Marilyn Monroe-style from an invisible gust of wind blowing her hair and clothes upward. Everyone in the gallery chatted amongst themselves in shock that Dona was accusing a respected member of the community with smuggling such a dangerous drug to his own brother's house.

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Lude shrieked over the clamor, instantly silencing everyone before the surprised judge could do so. " _You don't have any proof that I was the one who filled that insulin pen with sux!_ "

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Phoenix shouted. "We already proved it with Detective Skye's fingerprint analysis! Only yours and Ms. Eve's prints are on the murder weapon! As Dona just said, if it wasn't the defendant who prepared it, then it had to have been you!"

"You're wrong! This is a set-up! I'm being framed here!"

" _ **OBJECTION,**_ " Dona chanted. "Do you have factual evidence of someone trying to pin the blame on you?"

"There are people who are jealous of my seniority and position-"

"That's not good enough!" the student/attorney smacked her hand on the table, becoming visibly annoyed with his attempts at talking his way out of this. "We need factual evidence, not more faulty testimony! If you can't provide such proof here and now, then the court cannot accept your theory!"

"W-Why you… You _impudent_ _ **simpleton**_ …!" the doctor fumed with the fury of a thousand demons.

Phoenix nodded and added, "Furthermore, this all explains your attempt at misleading the investigation with the falsified autopsy report. The defense asserts that you wanted to cover up the true cause of death by using an insulin overdose as your cover story. Then you would have intercepted the sharps container and argued that Ms. Eve simply used the morning and afternoon insulin doses in one go rather than how she was supposed to. You proceeded with this plan until a certain obstacle came up that you didn't foresee."

"A certain obstacle?" the judge wondered. "What would that be, Mr. Wright?"

"The fact that Ms. Eve used the last injection from the September 19 shipment for the morning shot and disposed it in the sharps container. This means she had to use the first injection from the October 19 box in the afternoon. I want everyone to recall that Dr. Impressa has a professional obligation to label each pen with the patient's name, medication, and _date it was filled!_ With two completely different dates on the labels used for yesterday's injections, plus the fact that you had already left the house an hour before, you couldn't use two pens with the same date stamp to back up your insulin overdose story!"

"Which leads us to the fake autopsy report being your last resort for confusing the investigation, which failed because the medical examiner performed his own investigation and told you to deliver _his_ results to the police. Of course, all you had to do was conceal or destroy the real document and deliver yours to Detective Skye and Mrs. Impressa instead, acting under the pretext that it was the real one," Dona continued for her co-counsel. "At first glance, this phony report looks like a legitimate document, but if we look at the timestamp for when this was printed, then we find another glaring contradiction!"

"The timestamp…?" Diva murmured and used a stylish monocle to read it. "Wait just a minute! This document was made on October 17!"

" _ **Aaaagh!"**_ Lude snarled.

"My word! That's two days before the murder!" the judge realized. "Witness! What is the meaning of this!?"

"Grrrrgghhh… I refuse to answer. I exercise my right… to stay silent…"

Phoenix smirked. "If you won't explain, then the defense will gladly do so for you. Although this cannot be accepted as evidence for Forst Impressa's cause of death, it can be used for a different purpose. For him to have prepared this phony report two days in advance tells us one simple thing; _that this is legitimate evidence of premeditated murder!_ "

" _ **GRRRRAAAAGHH!"**_ Lude yelled like a banshee and slammed his fist against the witness stand!

 _Hmm…_ Dona thought. _Forged evidence can't be used in place of real evidence for a trial, but it can function as evidence of guilt just by its own existence. Only Mr. Wright, who was disbarred for presenting forged evidence, could come up with such a twist of logic._

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Diva shouted. "Forged evidence being used to assert guilt!? Preposterous!"

"Just what part of it is preposterous, may I ask?" the attorney demanded.

"I-! Well, that is…!"

Lude yelled, "Hey, Little Miss Prosecutor! Are you just going to stand there and let them accuse me like this!? That bumbling nurse is the one on trial, not me! Tell them to stop badgering the witness already!"

"We are doing no sort of badgering, Dr. Impressa," Phoenix assured. "This is logical deducing based upon evidence and debating over the truth behind it!"

"I don't want to hear it from someone who lost his attorney's badge over bad evidence!"

" _ **OBJECTION,**_ " Dona interrupted. "Then allow me, someone who has not had such a tainted history, to present our version of the crime based upon these new facts. Although I cannot say when you first had the idea of murdering your brother, I _can_ say that on October 17, you went to the coroner's office and somehow created the false autopsy report without anyone noticing. The next day, October 18, you filled 90 brand new pens with insulin, which you got your fingerprints on. We cannot determine when you filled Shot #91 with the sux, but nonetheless you labeled the pen with an identical insulin label. We do know that you had high-level access to sux due to your part-time job as a surgical technician, so we must assume that you did it when you were performing your duties on the morning of October 19 since the hospital verified that you were present for those three morning operations.

"For the delivery, all you had to do was slip Shot #91 into the box with the other pens, seal it at the pharmacy, go to Forst's house at noon, and complete the delivery. To make sure Ms. Eve used the pen filled with sux at 1:00 PM, while you were out doing other deliveries, you opened the box yourself and took out the injection in question so that she would use it out of convenience. She had been fooled into believing that the shot was insulin and didn't think twice to check it, since insulin and sux both appear as clear liquids to the naked eye. After all, we've seen that practically every medical professional on this case has been doing their job with convenience in mind rather than professional protocol.

"You stayed for five minutes to confirm the shipment, testifying that Forst had been alive during your brief stay. In addition, you even recommended to her that she should try an intramuscular injection due to Forst having trouble processing his previous insulin doses. After you left, Ms. Eve administered the injection at 1:00 as planned, inadvertently causing Forst's entire body to be rapidly paralyzed until he could no longer breathe, leading to brain death. She then disposed of the spent injection into the sharps container. At 1:15, someone from the medical waste facility arrived to pick up said container and give her a new one."

"D-Dona…" Phoenix whispered nervously.

She was in such an explanatory trance that she didn't notice him. "She remained in the lounge performing miscellaneous duties until 1:45 when she smelled smoke coming from the bedroom and discovered the fire. She ran out of the house in a panic and, admittedly, failed to call the police right away. Luckily, a neighbor saw the rising smoke and called the fire department at the same time. They extinguished the blaze and found Forst's burnt remains.

"Right after this discovery, the chief medical examiner was notified of the incident and was supposed to send one of his staff members there to perform the initial check. However, though his past acquaintance with Dr. Impressa, the chief called him on his cell phone and asked him to do the job instead. From the chief examiner's testimony, his regular staff was overworked with autopsies and he had trouble sending someone to perform the exam, so – once again, out of convenience – he called upon someone else with experience who was in the area to do it on his behalf."

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Diva exclaimed. "How in the world could Dr. Impressa have anticipated that the chief coroner would definitely call him to do it!? Your scenario doesn't work unless he was sure that he would be permitted to examine the body! If he doesn't have that opportunity, then creating the fake autopsy report two days prior would be meaningless!"

"The coroner said that he would call upon his former colleague's assistance to repay a favor if the time came," Dona argued. "Granted, neither of us have proof that he manipulated the chief medical examiner to behave the way he wanted. If we want to be absolutely sure, we need to call him at the hospital and verify that he knew Dr. Impressa would be in the local area at the time of the fire. Those facts must be sorted at a later time, but we do know that it _happened_ regardless. The police and ambulance technicians all witnessed him entering the house at 2:00 and examining Forst's body. No one even bothered to question why a known pharmacist was there in the first place, right, Detective Skye?"

"Ack-!" Ema practically choked on her own spit. "W-Well, the chief examiner told me that someone would come right away, and we usually don't question his authority…"

The judge shook his head and sighed. "If Attorney DiPrima's claim really is true, then perhaps it's not only the hospital that needs further examining."

"If I was a real prosecutor, I would have cut your pay big time, sister!" Diva shouted furiously.

"Hey, don't threaten my precious paycheck!" the detective shot back.

"Order in the court!" the judge slammed his gavel. "We will save this debate for further deliberation!"

"May I continue, Your Honor? I still need to cover what Dr. Impressa did after he left Forst's house to go to the coroner's office," Dona said.

"Yes, go ahead."

"So at about 2:25, he went to the hospital with the body and shared his findings with the chief examiner. This makes it about 2:55 due to the 30-minute trip to the hospital. The chief then examined the body himself, but couldn't determine much due to the body's charred state. He still needed to cooperate with the investigation though, so he drafted an initial report and asked Lude to give it to Detective Skye. Along the way back however, Dr. Impressa swapped out the real report for his forged one and gave that to her instead. Another 30 minute drive back makes it about 3:25, and I witnessed his car parked on Themis Avenue at 3:30, so he had plenty of time to perform the switch along the way. Mrs. Impressa then met up with her husband at the scene at 3:45, thereby completing his plan for deceiving the defense team and the police."

"Wait just a minute!" Diva objected. "Why would he go through all of this trouble to give the police a fake report!? Wouldn't it have been obvious that the chief examiner's final report would dramatically differ from what the forged initial report claimed!? No matter what, he would have been busted!"

"I can't speak with certainty, but he may have had a contingency plan for if the prosecution really accepted an insulin overdose as the manner of death prior to the chief coroner's findings. With the number of oversights and vagueness surrounding this case, as well as Dr. Impressa's penchant for using unclear statements, he could have prepared an argument that would cast reasonable doubt upon the coroner's, prosecution's, and police's combined competency to perform their jobs. The doctor has exercised his right to remain silent, but the prosecution can certainly ask these hard questions to everyone involved if it wishes to dispel the defense's claims.

"And with that, Your Honor, the defense thus concludes its current summary of the case."

When Dona finished her explanation, everyone in the room fell silent. No one seemed to move even an eyelid. She glanced over at the stunned Phoenix and asked, "How did I do, Mr. Wright?"

"Dona…" he whispered.

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

"Y-You're… trying to _defend_ Ms. Eve, you know."

"I know that."

"But what you just said-"

"I linked Dr. Impressa as the one responsible for creating the murder weapon."

"But Dona, if this is how to stands… Then he can't be implicated as the murderer…"

She looked over at Nye and found her quietly shivering in her chair in a state of complete disbelief.

"Ms. Eve…" she murmured.

Diva raised a finger over her lips and hushed, "Shhhh… Do you hear it, Lil' Sis?"

Dona knew this gesture all too well. Whenever there was a grim, dark truth that her normally bawdy sister had noticed, she would hush everyone and ask this very question. Dona didn't say anything, preferring to let Diva do the talking this time.

"Yes, everyone in the court hears it too. It's a tiny voice that has been suppressed by the wild pandemonium this trial has caused. You just gave it the courage it needed to stand upon this grand stage and sing its song, however faint it may be."

"…"

"Whatever diabolical colors you may paint that man with, the evidence cannot provide the canvas you require."

"… Are you talking about his alibi?"

"Yes. I commend you for weaving a most excellent tale using every bit of testimony and evidence available to you. But like the termite-infested foundation of that old house, it crumbles before the might of his perfect alibi. You said it yourself; he was not present at 1:00 PM to administer the dose that took Forst Impressa's life. The only one who could have accomplished this task was the nurse, Nye Eve."

"How true," the judge agreed with a somber nod. "If you cannot change your argument, then your client really will be found guilty of murder, Attorney DiPrima."

"Dona!" Phoenix hissed. "What are you going to do!? At this rate, you can't connect Dr. Impressa to the actual deed!"

They stared at the sweat-covered doctor, who now stood at the witness stand with a smug curl to his grin. The student closed her eyes and concentrated intensely.

" _Dona!_ "

"Shhhh… Please be quiet, Mr. Wright," Diva shushed him. "When she is backed into a corner, she will tune out the world and calmly focus only on what she needs. We must give her a moment to recollect her thoughts. She will return to us with an answer very shortly."

"Ms. DiPrima…" Nye whimpered with terror.

Phoenix calmed his nerves, placed his hand on the nurse's shaking shoulder, and observed Dona in deep thought. She went over her own explanation again as if it was being typed before her eyes on a computer monitor, and she reexamined the evidence to make sure everything matched. Although there were many questionable points that needed clarifying once the trial was over, there was _something_ that kept nagging her like an itch that needed scratching.

During these tense moments of silence, a bailiff entered the courtroom. Noticing the apprehensive aura surrounding everyone, he nervously crept up to the judge and whispered something in the elderly man's ear. He handed him a folder, then discreetly made his exit with Dona none the wiser.

"Your Honor, what is that document you just received?" Phoenix asked.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm… Just give me a moment…" the judge answered while reading the papers. "Oh! This is Cybil Impressa's autopsy report!"

"What!?" Nye yelped. "They found out what her cause of death was!?"

"Yes, let me see here… Acute respiratory failure. She must have had breathing problems while sleeping last night. The body was examined for puncture wounds like with her brother-in-law, but they only found injection sites consistent with her normal medications."

Dona's eyes immediately shot open when she heard that.

 _Another death resulting from breathing difficulties…?_

"Welcome back, Lil' Sis," Diva said. "Did you reconsider your stance?"

"I did."

"And?"

"… It will remain the same."

" _Ms. DiPrima!"_ Nye pleaded with tears in her eyes, grabbing her attorney's sleeves. "I'm begging you! I really didn't do it! I didn't kill Forst Impressa!"

"Dona! Why are you doing this!?" Phoenix objected.

"Unless there's evidence that Dr. Impressa had administered that lethal shot, or that Ms. Eve did not, there's no way this can be the truth unless she was the one."

"The truth…" the man's skin went pale as his mind wandered to the past. There was only one time before that he defended someone who had manipulated events to go his way, even so far as blackmailing the attorney to force him to win an acquittal. His prosecutor opponent had likewise pursued the case to its fullest extent for the same reason this girl was saying. He couldn't imagine what was going on in Dona's mind as she unveiled such a demonic plot to pass the guilt of murder onto an innocent woman.

"T-Then is it really true? Did I really kill that man… without knowing it…?" Nye shuddered and broke down sobbing in absolute despair.

"I'm really sorry that it's come to this, Ms. Eve," Dona bowed. "But the evidence just doesn't work any other way than this."

"So if I understand you correct," the judge said, "you stand by your assertion that although Dr. Impressa had masterminded the delivery of the murderous Shot #91 to the house, it was Ms. Eve who was solely responsible for administering that shot to the victim. Need I remind you that this trial is for her charge of murder and that you, as her defense attorney, are supporting this verdict?"

"Your Honor, I ask for a little more of the court's time in determining her level of culpability. The prosecution's stance is that she should be charged with first degree murder, while the defense states that she couldn't have been reasonably aware that the injection she gave posed a danger," Dona calmly urged. "Ms. Eve had been clearly deceived into acting as the vehicle for delivering the injection of sux for the purpose of establishing Dr. Impressa's alibi. As far as her _mens rea_ is concerned, she was only performing her duty as a caregiver, not actually colluding with him to carry out the killing."

"Hmm…" the judge thought about it for a moment. "So we should proceed with this trial not to debate about the deed, but rather the state of mind she possessed during those moments."

"Yes, sir. Prosecutor DiPrima, what do you intend to do regarding Dr. Impressa's involvement with this crime? Even you cannot ignore the chaos that his actions have caused for us."


	9. Turnabout Apprentice - 9

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Trial: Part 5**

Diva blew her folding fan against her face as she contemplated her sister's question. "There's no denying that he should be arrested for evidence spoliation and obstruction of justice. I would also recommend a thorough investigation of the hospital he works at to see if any of this sux stuff has gone missing from their inventory."

"Indeed," the judge agreed. "I simply can't overlook your flagrant misdeeds during these course of events, doctor."

"I understand, Your Honor," Lude conceded. "I simply wish not to be arrested on false charges as the defense is attempting to do with me."

"The charges won't be as false as you think," Phoenix interjected.

"What do you mean!?"

"The prosecution seeks Ms. Eve's arrest as the direct killer, while we seek yours as the real mastermind possessing the guilty conscience needed to commit the act. Since she couldn't have known she had killed Forst, it means she isn't legally responsible for murder. The full responsibility for it would rest upon your shoulders alone, since you were anticipating that she would act according to your plan."

"But Ms. Eve killed him! I was nowhere near the house at the time, so my alibi is perfect! Isn't it the court's job to put the actual killers behind bars!?"

"It depends on the culprit's level of _mens rea_."

"What is that supposed to be?"

"Let's say for example that I gave you a bottle of ColdKiller X and said it was cold medicine, but you had no idea it really contained atroquinine. You unknowingly took a fatal dose of the poison, and the police discovered you dead the next day. Sure, they would label it as suicide at first, but once the facts are established, they would realize that the _mens rea_ , or the guilty conscience required to commit a crime, actually falls upon me because I knew that bottle contained enough poison to kill you. Therefore, the result is that I had murdered you, not that you had committed suicide."

"So this _mens rea_ thing is what the courts rely on more than the actual deed?" Lude looked genuinely surprised.

"Exactly. All criminal actions require forethought, not necessarily all manners of deaths. Ms. Eve has not demonstrated any level of criminal intent, nor is there any proof that she colluded with you in administering the sux to Forst. In contrast, my partner has proven your level of involvement with tampering the evidence, as well as preparing the murder weapon with the intent to smuggle it into the house and use Ms. Eve as a patsy for the crime."

"Ugh…!" the doctor was astonished at what Phoenix was telling him. But then he appeared to have an idea as he argued, "Then I will admit that I was an accomplice in Ms. Eve's crime."

"What!?" Nye barked. "That's insane-!"

"Calm down," Phoenix assured her. "This is obviously another one of his stall tactics. We'll get to the bottom of this no matter what."

Dona asked Lude, "On what grounds are you saying this?"

"We met up during her week off in September, and she told me all about Forst's abuse toward her. She wanted to have him killed so she could be free to have the agency transfer her to another home that would treat her better. She bribed me into providing her with the sux in such a manner that it could be delivered to her without anyone being suspicious."

 _Talk about being painfully desperate. Next thing you know, he'll be claiming that Moozilla is real._

"So, if I understand you correctly," Diva raised her fan before her, "you're saying that Ms. Eve is the real mastermind, and you're the one being used as the fall guy."

"Exactly, Miss Prosecutor. I'm surprised you hadn't come up with this argument yet," Lude replied snidely. "I agreed to be an accomplice with only one condition; that my alibi be perfect. So after my delivery at noon, I left the execution of the crime to be carried out by Ms. Eve on her own time. As you all may recall, I also wasn't present when she started the fire. I only arrived to perform the initial autopsy after the fire department had extinguished the blaze."

"Dr. Impressa, you can understand why I doubt the veracity of your story," Dona sighed. "If she really wanted to quit being Forst's caretaker, all she had to do was tell her agency about the house being too dangerous for her to live in. She didn't even need to discuss her patient's abuse toward her and the other neighbors."

"She told me that Forst was blackmailing her into staying as his nurse, so she must have felt too threatened to think as rationally as you would believe."

"Can you provide any substantial evidence to back up _anything_ you just said?"

"Ms. Eve kept our meeting private, so I cannot provide proof of that."

The judge shook his head. "I'm sorry, doctor, but if you have no evidence to support your claim, then it cannot be accepted in this trial."

"I understand that, Your Honor. I can, however, direct your attention to the fire that she caused."

 _Hm… Although we've definitely established his involvement in the murder, we still can't rule out that Ms. Eve had committed arson. Detective Skye and I hadn't found any sort of trigger yesterday, so Dr. Impressa is using that as his basis for blaming the nurse,_ Dona pondered.

"I wonder about that!" Diva remarked. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have here the arson detective's report in conjunction with the homicide detective's findings as to the most likely cause of the fire."

"Was there a reasonable trigger they found despite the level of destruction that occurred in the bedroom?" her sister asked.

"The arson detective who took over when the homicide team left reports that no external triggers were discovered, so the origin was positively the bedroom. In particular, their attention was focused on the desk lamp and that there were signs of burnt tissues and papers surrounding the desk."

"Tissues can leave different residues than papers?"

"Of course they can. It's true that tissue paper practically 'disappears' while burning, but there still can be embers or even unburned tissue remaining. In contrast, the papers from the thick magazine on that desk remained relatively intact, especially near the binding."

"A thick magazine?" Nye wondered. "I know Forst was into pornographic magazines, but I don't think any of them were thick enough to survive such a blaze."

 _Oh, right. Although her actions for the afternoon hours are questionable, I can still use her morning activities as backup!_

"Remember what you testified to Mrs. Impressa and I at the detention center last night. You said that while Forst was out for his morning walk, you did some cleaning in his bedroom. You were quite thorough with your work apparently, as you said you dusted and wiped down every possible surface you could see," Dona said.

"Yeah, I did that."

"Since the arson detective found trace evidence of a set-up with the desk lamp, I want to be sure that you weren't the one who created and/or set off this trigger after Forst died. When Detective Skye and I investigated the bedroom together, one of her forensic specialists had found this on the night stand." The student showed her client a photo of the evidence bag containing the thick Chinese-language magazine that had nearly been burnt to ash. "Was this present when you did your cleaning?"

"What is that?" the nurse wondered, examining the evidence closely for a minute. "No, I don't remember this being there at all. But I remember seeing this before somewhere else."

"You do!? Where!?" Diva demanded.

"At Dr. Impressa's house."

"Wha-!?"

"If I recall correctly, he has a collection of annual medical magazines that he imports from China. He is bilingual after all, knowing how to read English and Chinese."

Dona asked, "Did Forst know Chinese?"

"I don't think so. He had some dyslexia on top of his other mental conditions, so even English gave him a lot of trouble."

"So there was no reason for a Chinese magazine to be there in the first place."

"Hah!" Lude barked angrily. "Forst had a habit of stealing things, remember!? It shouldn't be so strange that one of my volumes would be found there after he had come to my house!"

"But Ms. Eve just said the magazine wasn't in your brother's bedroom when she cleaned in there, nor did the police find evidence of any other Chinese magazines in his possession."

"Then it was Ms. Eve who stole it from me! I had been looking for my missing Volume No. 46 everywhere! To think she would use it as kindling for her arson!"

" _ **OH HOH HOH HOH!**_ " Diva laughed. "I thought you were exercising your right to remain silent! Are you revoking that now!?"

"Urgh… I, uh…"

"Either be a pierrot or a mime! You can't jump between one or the other as you like!"

"Grrr…" Lude snarled at the young prosecutor.

"Hate me as you will, but I will not tolerate bringing a witness to the stand if he insists upon weaving tall tales to protect himself! If you keep flapping your lips so grandiosely without anything to back you up, my little sister will tear you apart with sound logic that will thoroughly debunk your petty fallacies! You will only speak when directed to, do you understand!?"

After enduring Diva's verbal lashings, Lude finally decided to keep his mouth shut, although the violent glare in his eyes and vividly shuddering body demonstrated his livid fury.

"Now that our witness will keep his tongue under control, we can debate about Ms. Eve's fate with hard facts without interruption," the prosecuting student smiled with haughty relief. "I will admit that the method for how this magazine wound up in Forst's house remains an unknown at this time. However, there is no denying that it was definitely _there_ during the fire."

"Since it wasn't present in the room while Ms. Eve did her cleaning in the morning, it had to have appeared sometime right before the fire broke out," Dona said. "Unfortunately, there's no way for us to establish beyond a reasonable doubt as to when or how it was placed there, as the prosecution just said."

"I'm afraid so. So now we must approach this from a different perspective that _can_ provide us with evidence."

"But Prosecutor DiPrima," the judge said worriedly, "from what I can see with these crime scene photos, the damage to that part of the bedroom was incredibly extensive. How are either of you going to prove who started the fire?"

"Then let's take a much harder look at the photos, Your Honor. Mr. Wright, I assume you're familiar with the notion of 'turning things around', right?"

"Of course," Phoenix nodded. "What we need to do is not focus on what was _destroyed_ , but rather what remained _intact_."

"Good!" Diva smirked. "In that case, let's examine the photos with that mindset instead!"

Dona adjusted her glasses and stared hard at the pictures laid out on the table before her. She could tell that Diva was trying to direct her attention to something critical without actually saying it on account of being her debating opponent. She then realized what her sister was guiding her toward and pointed out one thing that survived the fire.

"I see it now. The object that managed to remain relatively intact… _was the desk lamp!_ " she finally declared.

Diva fanned her face and huffed, "My goodness, I'm starting to feel the heat this fire has left behind for us. And how exactly will the lamp help us prove once and for all who the arsonist was?"

Dona rested a finger upon her chin in contemplation as she read through her notebook. "According to my notes regarding Mrs. Impressa and I's interview with Ms. Eve at the detention center, she told us that she did a huge cleaning of Forst's bedroom during the morning hours while he was out for a walk. Mrs. Impressa also had a habit of recording her meetings with her clients, so that was likewise delivered to me this morning. Allow me to play back the relevant part."

She took out a digital recording device and fiddled with the time bar until she hit upon the part she wanted. She set it upon the table and turned the volume up as loud as possible so everyone could hear:

" _NYE EVE: Forst had gone out for his usual walk during the morning, so I had taken that chance to go through his room and give it a good wipe down before he would come back for his lunch and nap._

" _CYBIL IMPRESSA: How well did you clean his room? A little dusting, or a complete cleaning?_

" _NE: I take pride in my cleaning skills thanks to my previous job as a maid. It's what carried me through my university years until I became a nurse and was hired by the agency. Even now, I still have the habit of leaving no spot unwiped._

" _CI: Yes, habits are powerful forces to be reckoned with. I still peel potatoes the same way as when I worked as a prep cook at Dona's age._

" _NE: You betcha! And with Forst being the slob that he was, it was an absolute nightmare to keep up with him. I straightened his bed, swept the floor, organized his laundry, and wiped every possible surface I could see – night table, lamp, dresser, chair, bed legs and all – until he came back._

" _CI: Oh, speaking of lamps, the detective at the scene was wondering if anything was wrong with that desk lamp since it could have been used as a trigger for starting the fire. Did you see anything out of the ordinary during your cleaning spree?_

" _NE: No, not that I know of. It certainly was a lot better than the house itself._

" _CI: Was it ever turned on at any point?_

" _NE: No, it hardly ever gets used. That's why I have to go in and clean the dust off the bulb and ceramic._

" _CI: But it functions properly, yes?  
_

" _NE: It does, even though it's probably older than me and your student put together."_

"Oh!" Nye shouted as if she had a eureka moment. "That's right! I wiped the lamp down because a lot of dust had gathered on the bulb and underside! Forst never used it, so it just sat on the desk as a decoration!"

"And if she had done such a complete cleaning job, that would mean that any fingerprints that had previously been on the ceramic portion, no matter how young or old they may have been, would have been eliminated that very morning!" Dona declared.

"If the lamp really had been the trigger that set the fire, then the arsonist would have gotten their prints on it while setting up the trick!" Diva added.

"Well, well!" the judge was surprised by the twins' advanced level of reasoning. "But I need to ask for clarification's sake about whether or not fingerprints can survive from such an intense blaze."

"Your Honor, you have too little faith in our constabulary," the prosecutor smiled broadly. "Arson detectives have many tools at their disposal for finding DNA evidence, no matter how faint it may be."

"In addition," Phoenix grinned, "we have someone here who is very well-versed in finding fingerprints, as demonstrated with the insulin pens earlier."

Ema lowered her pink sunglasses and chuckled, "Hee hee! If even the smallest trace remains, science will find it! You just leave the analysis to me!"

The detective got to work examining the actual lamp from Diva's collection of evidence. The process took a few minutes, but everyone in the courtroom dared not even cough or breathe too hard.

"Okay, I've lifted only one set of good prints from both hands!" she announced. "Who should I compare them with first?"

 _This is it…_ Dona thought. _This will solidify once and for all if Ms. Eve really was an accomplice to the crime._

"Just to cover our bases, please check Forst's prints on file so we can conclusively say that he never used it that day."

"Sure thing!" Ema ran the first comparison, then said, "No, they don't belong to him."

"So that backs up Ms. Eve's claim. Next, let's compare them with hers."

The detective performed the second check. For once, Dona's heart raced with anticipation, and her vision went blurry for a split second. She groaned quietly and leaned on the table.

"Are you okay?" Phoenix asked.

"I'm just a little tired…"

Nye also noticed her attorney's fatigue and said, "If you're not feeling well, you can sit down and let Mr. Wright take over."

"N-No… I want to see this to the end…"

"I'm done!" Ema announced. "According to the comparison, Ms. Eve's fingerprints don't match the ones lifted from the lamp."

"Well then!" Diva exclaimed. "Let's examine Dr. Impressa's prints this time!"

"Are you sure? He wasn't near the house when-"

"Just do it already! If they match, then we've obviously caught the good doctor in the biggest lie yet!"

"R-Right! Give me a minute!"

Nye's heart fluttered with joy from the good news as she chirped, "That means I'm not guilty, right!?"

"At least we've proven that Dr. Impressa's story about you being an accomplice who started the fire is entirely false," Phoenix assured her. "With the lack of a suitable _mens rea_ to prove you had the intent to kill Forst, plus all of the evidence stacked against him with the murder weapon and forged autopsy report, the judge will have to acquit you of all your charges."

"Even though I killed my own patient?"

"There was no way for you to know you injected sux into him. Whatever your personal guilt may be, you can't be held criminally responsible."

Nye sniffled a little, but felt somewhat better from the experienced attorney's words. Meanwhile, Ema finished analyzing and paused for an uncomfortably long time.

"Well, Detective Skye? What did you find?" the judge asked.

"I'm running the check again, sir…"

"Don't keep us in suspense like this! One check should be sufficient enough for you, right!?"

"Yes, Your Honor. But with these results the way they are, I'm just a little confused… Okay, the second check is done, and there's no mistaking it."

"Do those prints belong to Dr. Impressa?" Dona asked.

"… Yes, they do."

 _Wha-!? That can't-! Wait… Actually, it_ could _work!_

The baffled student nodded and explained, "Let's review what we know about Dr. Impressa's actions that day. We know he went to the house at noon and left five minutes later. From there, we assumed that the next time he visited was when he was suddenly requested by the chief medical examiner to perform the on-site autopsy. Thus he arrived at around 2:00 to perform that job, then went to the hospital, then returned at 3:45 to deliver the false report. But now we have his fingerprints on the lamp, which had been involved in the blaze that was discovered at 1:45.

"The only thing it tells me," she said while fixing her glasses, "is that he didn't visit the house three times in total, but rather _four_ times. This was the period between 12:00 and 2:00, when he was supposed to have been out doing other deliveries. Shortly before the fire was reported at 1:45, he secretly returned to the house and verified that Forst was dead before setting up whatever trick he had with the lamp to eliminate both evidence from the body and that he had been there without Ms. Eve's knowledge.

"Unfortunately for you, Dr. Impressa," Dona declared, "you didn't know that the nurse had thoroughly cleaned in there earlier this morning, so she had inadvertently erased any past fingerprints from the lamp. Plus you weren't aware that fingerprints on ceramic can survive such a potent blaze. Any prints that had gotten on there had to have come from after she finished cleaning, and she testified that no one ever used the lamp. So how could your prints have gotten on there other than you being the one and only arsonist who wanted to cover up his crime and pin the blame on Ms. Eve?"

Lude's teeth clattered as he widened his eyes in horror, unable to argue any further.

"Dr. Lude Impressa. I have no choice…"

The student, confident in her argument, raised her left arm and gracefully pointed at him.

"But to indict you for the first degree murder of your brother, Forst Impressa!"

He stood there in total silence. Then he unveiled one of his Chinese magazines from his coat pocket and opened it up as if he was going to read it. Suddenly, he grabbed the pages and tore them apart in a manic display of howling anger, scattering loose papers all over the courtroom!

If the gallery hadn't been in an uproar before, it was now! Dona's eyes felt like they were spinning in their sockets. Not even the judge could calm the crowd, so he ordered a five minute recess for everyone to recollect their thoughts and calm down.


	10. Turnabout Apprentice - End

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 1 – Turnabout Apprentice**

 **Conclusion**

 **October 20, 2031**

 **12:30 PM**

 **District Court – Defendant Lobby No. 1**

"Am I off the hook, Mr. Wright!? Am I really, really, _really_ off the hook!?" Nye asked for the umpteenth time.

"Y-Yes, you should be! The judge will clear your charges, I promise!" Phoenix chided.

"I think you could say that a million times and I still wouldn't be convinced!"

"Then wait for the judge to say it! His ruling is final, not mine!"

As they kept going back and forth like this, Dona sat on the sofa in total silence thinking about what Ema's findings meant for the case.

 _If Dr. Impressa's prints are on the lamp after Ms. Eve cleaned it in the morning, it means he was the only possible one who set up the trick. I don't really know what the setup was, but it's obvious that he must have returned to the house and pulled off the arson in the time span between Forst's death at around 1:00 and when Ms. Eve first discovered the fire at 1:45. With him out running other medical deliveries, that certainly gives him enough time to return and perform the trick without being seen. Plus Dr. Impressa had to have known that she would have given Forst the sux during his regular afternoon shot, so he really just needed to set up the arson from outside the window without going back into the house…_

She sighed again, and Nye asked her, "Are you really okay? You've gone pale all of a sudden."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'll be okay. I just tend to get fatigued easily, that's all."

"All right, but don't push yourself," the nurse implored and sat down next to her. "Although it's not over yet, I still want to thank both of you for clearing my name."

"You're very welcome," Phoenix said.

"Yet, I still can't help but think of the suffering that Forst must have endured after I had given him that fatal shot. I find it hard to believe that I won't be sentenced despite that."

"What do you mean his 'suffering'?"

"Dr. Impressa said that succinylcholine is a potent paralytic, but that it's also used along with analgesics and sedatives for surgeries. Since sux doesn't have sedative effects, it must mean that Forst died while wide awake, unable to do anything except hopelessly realize that he was going to die… And I put him through such a cruel, terrible death-!"

"Ms. Eve…" the attorney felt incapable of calming the remorseful nurse's anxiety.

Dona shook her head and said, "I don't think that's the case."

"What do you mean?" Nye sobbed.

"Remember that Forst hated needles, so you would give him a sedative to help him fall asleep before administering his injection. You even told us to examine the contents of his stomach, of which sedatives were found."

"Oh! I can't believe I forgot that!"

"That tells me he died a peaceful death."

"A peaceful death… So he couldn't have been conscious enough to realize what was happening to him?"

"I strongly believe that's the case."

"Ms. DiPrima…" the heartbroken nurse rested her hands over her chest to cope with the sudden relief that battled her overwhelming remorse.

Phoenix said, "However you cope with this case is your decision. Just know that no reasonable person would call you criminally guilty. Justice will be served for your patient's murder."

"Thank you, Mr. Wright."

A bailiff knocked on the door, interrupting the atmosphere as he summoned them back to the courtroom. While following behind them, Dona had another thought that she knew she couldn't answer:

 _I wonder what Mrs. Impressa would think of this if she was still alive…_

* * *

 **October 20, 2031**

 **12:35 PM**

 **District Court – Courtroom No. 1**

"Court will now reconvene for the trial of Ms. Nye Eve," the judge announced. "Although to be perfectly honest-"

He gazed upon the broken down Lude hobbling over the witness stand like a broken doll.

"There doesn't appear to be much else that needs to be deliberated upon."

"So do you admit to your crimes, Dr. Impressa?" Dona asked.

"I… I… I admit it… All of it… was my… doing…" the doctor moaned.

"Hmph," Diva scoffed arrogantly and looked away from him as if the sight of him would dirty her dress. "If you ask me, I would have filed for your arrest in the first place instead of that poor nurse's. This has been a most obnoxious and long-delayed turnabout, but I'll admit that I enjoyed butting heads with you in a real court of law, Lil' Sis. It certainly beats the amateurish mock trials held at Themis' school fair."

"Setting aside stages and performances, why would you have sought his arrest?" her sister asked.

"Mr. Payne might have been an unsophisticated prude, but he was no fool. He looked into any insurance claims placed on Forst Impressa's life and found one company that received regular payments for a one million dollar policy. Naturally, the sole beneficiary would be his brother, Lude Impressa."

"Hah… So the prosecution also suspected me… from the beginning…" Lude chuckled listlessly. "Are you telling me… that Ms. Eve's arrest… was a ruse… all along?"

"I don't really know what Mr. Payne was thinking at the time. He must have treated this as circumstantial evidence and waited to see if the defense would prove that you really were responsible for the crimes."

Phoenix muttered with a flat stare, "So he would have one-upped us all in the end… Smooth. Real smooth, Payne."

Lude spiraled down into a near-incoherent rant. "That useless hunk of meat I called my older brother… No matter how hard I tried to untie him from my apron strings… he would just latch right back on… and profit off of my successful career. If I gave that overgrown baby… an 'allowance'… he promised to… keep his lips sealed…"

"From the way you're saying that, it almost sounds like-" Dona tried to say.

"Yeah, that's right! He had the nerve to blackmail his own brother!"

"He did such a thing!?" the judge exclaimed. "What sort of secret did he have on you that made you pay him this 'allowance'!?"

"Hah! Straight to the point, aren't we, Your Honor? Well, it doesn't matter. Now that Cybil is gone, I don't have to worry anymore."

"What does this have to do with Mrs. Impressa?" Dona asked.

"Right up until the end, she never knew… That I was seeing another woman."

"Classic adultery. It's practically become a stock plot twist these days," Diva rolled her eyes.

"Say what you want, but I didn't love Cybil anymore. Or perhaps it's better to say that I never had any love for her in the first place."

"Then why did you marry her?"

"Money. Plain and simple. Forty years ago, I was studying to be a doctor, but university can be very expensive. I needed a way to finance my education and my dream of opening my own pharmacy. Cybil was already a successful attorney despite her young age, so I pursued a relationship with her just so I could get to her purse strings."

"So you rode on her success the same way Forst rode on yours," Dona said, feeling a bit of anger simmering deep within her placid soul.

"Fweh hah hah hah! Ironic, isn't it!? But I was fortunate that Cybil was such a clueless and romance-driven woman who didn't know any better. On the other hand, Forst was a greedy bastard who knew exactly what he was doing when he blackmailed me, dementia be damned. If he told Cybil that I was seeing other women behind her back, our marriage would have been over. Of course by this point, my income is now better than what Cybil's was back then, and since we didn't agree on a prenup, she could have turned around and sued for an exorbitant amount of my income. Think about it! The roles of 'meal ticket' and 'gold digger' would have been reversed! How lucky I am that she died before she could find any of this out!"

Dona smacked her palm against the table. "I wonder if it really was 'lucky' for you."

"Are you suggesting I murdered Cybil this morning? Then prove it! Use your oh-so precious evidence to frame me as a serial killer, Dona DiPrima! Otherwise, keep your trap shut!" Lude snarled with a deranged glare in his eyes.

Barely fazed by his insults, she boldly adjusted her glasses and replied, "Since you're already being charged for Forst's murder, I'll accept that as a challenge. Even if I lose, it still won't change anything for you."

"Go ahead and try! Make my day, little girl!"

"Your Honor," she said to the judge. "During our earlier deliberations, a bailiff had delivered Mrs. Impressa's autopsy report, correct?"

"Yes, I read over the file briefly," he answered. "The cause of death was acute respiratory failure."

"Which is another victim with the surname 'Impressa' who died due to strange breathing issues, and that which benefited the witness – or rather, the true culprit."

"If you intend to finger Dr. Impressa as his wife's killer, then you need better evidence than that."

"I don't have such a thing in my immediate collection of evidence, but I'm sure if a request is sent to the coroner, he can perform a biopsy to see if sux is present in her corpse. If it isn't, then I will rest my case."

Lude laughed. "Don't bother trying. Succinylcholine is near-impossible to find in the body. All of its components can be found naturally, and breakdown of the drug is virtually immediate."

Just then, Nye said some rather strange words: "Gas chromatic mass spectrometry can do it."

"I beg your pardon, Ms. Eve?" the judge asked. "What is that supposed to be?"

"It's basically a forensic device that can identify any substance present in a test sample. If the court orders it, then the examiner needs to send some tissue samples from Mrs. Impressa's body to the lab. If sux really caused her death, it will be found with the GC/MS."

"I never knew such technology existed! Could it be done to find traces of this substance in Forst's body despite being burned?"

"Yes, it can. Dr. Impressa, as a former medical examiner, you knew that this technology existed."

"It wasn't around during my tenure!" Lude rebutted.

"But it is _now_ , and you'd be a bloody fool to not have heard of it given your lengthy experience in the medical world."

"Hmph…"

"Another thing that can be done is to intercept Mrs. Impressa's sharps container and examine those needles for the drug and the doctor's fingerprints like my attorneys did earlier."

"Wow," Phoenix was in awe of the nurse's knowledge. "How did you know that this kind of device existed? People outside of the medical world aren't so familiar with such a thing."

"I guess I never mentioned it, but my job at the agency is to help me fund my studies to become a lab technician. Of course I would be dealing with such equipment in the future."

"I see."

"Since this trial is not for any potential crime against Cybil Impressa," the judge began, "I will have to arrange for the actual prosecutor to do a follow-up investigation. For now though, the defendant may take the stand."

Lude was handcuffed by two officers and led out of the courtroom. As he passed by the defense bench, he faced Dona and said, "You know, you remind me of Cybil when she was younger. Although I saw her for her money, she really was one of the best attorneys I had ever met."

She wasn't impressed by his roundabout way of complimenting her. The last thing she had to say to him was, "You, good sir, are the worst kind of human being."

"Heh… Don't I know it."

The shamed doctor left with his escorts, and Nye eagerly stood at the witness stand to hear the verdict.

"It has been a long, arduous trial for all of us," the judge said. "Mrs. Impressa passed away, Mr. Payne suffered a heart attack, Mr. Wright intervened as a co-counsel, and to top it all off… The defense and prosecution were led by high school students who are also identical twin sisters!"

"A splendid way for us to make our debut performances. Our actress mother must be smiling upon us from Heaven. Right, Lil' Sis?" Diva bowed dramatically.

Dona nodded. "Our detective father would be proud of our work."

"And because of everyone's combined efforts, I am able to announce my verdict for this most unusual trial," the judge said. "The court finds the defendant, Ms. Nye Eve… **NOT GUILTY.** "

Everyone in the gallery cheered for Nye's official acquittal. Although she still looked apprehensive, she finally smiled with true joy, which likewise made Phoenix and Dona very pleased. Diva fanned herself, but likewise was glad that she pursued the truth and made sure justice was delivered properly.

"Court is adjourned!"

The slamming gavel indicated the end of the trial.

* * *

 **October 20, 2031**

 **12:45 PM**

 **District Court – Defendant Lobby No. 1**

"We did it, Mr. Wright! Ms. DiPrima!" the ecstatic nurse cheered, tackling the surprised gentleman with a bear hug.

"W-Whoa there, Nelly! Take it easy!"

"I don't know how to thank you both enough! I… I… Oh, it's too much! I think I'm going to cry!"

"It's okay! We were just doing our job! It's just like you working to save lives through medicine!"

"I know, but still-! This is just too wonderful for words! Isn't that right, Dona!?"

They looked over at Dona who, to their combined surprise, didn't appear to share in their festivities. Her head felt heavy and light at the same time, and she breathed heavily while trying to keep her balance by teetering on her feet.

"Are you okay!? What's the matter!?" Nye exclaimed.

"I think… I'm having another episode…" Dona huffed.

"An 'episode'?"

"I tend to… be prone to… seizures… if I'm… too stressed out…"

"Oh no! Come on, sit down and take it easy. I'll take a quick look at you."

Nye and Phoenix helped the student sit on the sofa, and the nurse performed some basic physical checks of the girl's forehead and chest.

"You don't have a fever, but your breathing is quite labored and your skin has gone very pale," she said. "Maybe you should go to the hospital?"

"No, this happens once in a while. I've had some past medical issues that have resulted in such weak spells like this," Dona assured. "I just need to lie down and avoid stressful situations for a bit."

"As far as 'stressful situations' go, this certainly makes my own top ten," Phoenix muttered. "You must be utterly exhausted, especially since this was the first trial you led the defense for."

"I still wanted to see it through to the end, for both Ms. Eve's and Mrs. Impressa's sakes."

"You didn't need to. If I had known you had such issues, I would have taken over as Ms. Eve's attorney instead of acted as your co-counsel. But whatever the case, it's over now. We got our client the acquittal she deserved, so your rest is well earned."

"Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Wright. I think it really would have been impossible for me to go on had you not volunteered your services."

"It's no problem. Mrs. Impressa was an acquaintance of mine, so hearing that she passed away was a real surprise to me considering how healthy she was for her age."

"I know. But now that creates another problem for me…"

"What would that be?"

Dona closed her eyes and murmured, "I'm doing my internship at Impressa & Co. Law Offices through Themis, but with my mentor's sudden passing, it means I'll have to talk with the dean and quickly arrange for a new office to finish my term at."

"Oh, that's right. You're still just a student," Nye recalled.

"Hmm…" Phoenix pondered. Then he flashed a smile and said, "Don't worry about it, Dona. I'll give the school a call first thing Monday."

"What do you mean, Mr. Wright?" the girl asked.

"I have some connections with the professors there. I'll see about arranging to have you complete your internship at my office."

"Are you sure about this? From my understanding, you weren't accepting students at the moment."

"Normally I'm not, but these are extenuating circumstances. Plus I was really impressed with how you managed the trial, so I think you'd be a great asset to my office throughout the year. You still have a lot to learn, but you make sure to avoid assumptions and ask hard questions in order to extract usable information. It tells me that you're very thorough with your work, and I have such high expectations of my employees."

"If you insist, then…" Dona whispered, but her head throbbed from a terrible headache and she had to rest it between her knees. "I'm sorry, but I think we need to talk about this at a later time."

"I understand," Phoenix said while sitting next to her and placing his hand on her back. "Do you want me to call your house and have your guardian pick you up?"

Just then, Diva entered the room while hearing that question and responded, "That won't be necessary, Mr. Wright. I've already called Bertie to come and pick us up. I also mentioned that Dona was having another one of her episodes."

"Who's 'Bertie'?" Nye asked.

"He's our butler and legal guardian, Adelbert Krandes, but we've called him Bertie since we were little."

"Wow, you're rich enough to afford a butler?"

"I don't really like bragging about our assets like I'm some kind of snobby elitist, but our mother was a famous actress back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and we will be the beneficiaries of her estate when we turn 18. For now though, Bertie is managing our accounts. Oh, speaking of which, Dona and I were supposed to go straight back home and help him prepare for our birthday party today! I guess it'll just have to be me helping out since Dona needs her rest."

"Oh, it your birthdays today!? Congratulations! How old are you two turning?"

"We'll be 17," Diva nodded. "Just one more year and we'll finally be legal adults."

"I'll be sure to get you two a little something, although it won't be big since my budget is so tight."

"Don't you worry about it, Ms. Eve. Your acquittal is Dona's present, and Dr. Impressa's arrest is mine."

"I'd still feel bad if I didn't at least give you a memento of your first trial."

"Is that so? Well then, we'll be looking forward to it."

Phoenix said, "Speaking of Dr. Impressa, what's happening over at the Prosecutor's Office?"

"I talked with Mr. Edgeworth, and he's arranged for a new prosecutor to process Dr. Impressa's arrest," Diva explained. "I've been henceforth relieved of any prosecutorial duties."

"That's good. I'm just amazed that that man went to such lengths to try and make Ms. Eve his scapegoat. He thought his alibi would be enough, but he obviously didn't do his research into the concept of _mens rea_ and had made too many mistakes in executing his crimes. I think he did it all at the spur of the moment and didn't really plan it too well."

"An incompetent fool wearing the skin of a respected member of society. I feel like I need to take a nice long shower just from looking at him," she scoffed while waving her fan in disdain.

During this time, Adelbert arrived with a bailiff escorting him to the lobby. The other man had brought a wheelchair with him, and the butler leaned over Dona and said, "I'm here now. Are you able to stand?"

"I don't think I can. I'm having some bad vertigo…" Dona moaned.

"Then let's wheel you to the car. You can spend the remainder of the afternoon resting."

As he and the bailiff helped her sit in the wheelchair, he said to Phoenix, "Diva briefly mentioned of your sudden assistance during the trial, and I must express my heartfelt appreciation for you coming to Dona's aid, Mr. Wright."

"Aw, it's nothing. I was just doing what I felt was needed, Mr. Krandes. No one in their right mind would expect a student to defend her client on her own in such a situation."

"Yes, I will have to read an overview of this case to fully understand what the girls had to do. For now though, I must return home with them posthaste to prepare for tonight's celebration."

"All right. I'll send you the papers sometime later. I'm also going to arrange for Dona's internship to continue at my office."

"Ah, most expedient of you, good sir. That would certainly save me some time. We shall speak later, but for now, you must excuse me."

Nye waved and said, "Take care of yourself, Dona! And thank you so much!"

Diva and Adelbert wheeled Dona out to the limousine parked at the front entrance. Once the car had driven away, the nurse sighed in bated relief, "Thank goodness it's all over. I just can't get over how I was the one who directly killed Forst. I remember the case where a nurse had been so overworked that she mistakenly killed 14 patients. I only took one life, so I can't imagine the pain of doing that to so many people. It even made international headlines, so she must have collapsed under such pressure."

 _Mimi Miney…_ Phoenix remembered. Just thinking of that one name dredged up memories of an extremely bitter time in his early career.

"The medical world can be so cruel if you're not careful," Nye murmured and clasped her hands.

"I think you mentioned that your job at the agency is to help support your studies into becoming a lab technician. Do you think you can go back to that kind of work bearing such guilt?"

"I don't think I can. I'm going to submit my resignation letter and go back to being a maid. Cleaning is much easier than giving medicine to people."

"All right. You do what's best for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Wright. I should probably head out now since there's nothing left for me to do here."

"You take care of yourself."

"You too."

* * *

 **October 20, 2031**

 **6:10 PM**

 **DiPrima Residence**

Dona couldn't remember much about arriving home and having Adelbert help her get into bed. She must have passed out immediately once she hit her head on the pillow because when she woke up again, it was just past 6:00 PM. She had mostly been awakened by the sound of people talking and laughing downstairs.

 _Oh… That's right, the birthday party…_ she realized.

Although she still felt terribly fatigued, she had enough strength to at least join the festivities for a couple of hours. She got dressed in proper clothes and quietly headed downstairs. Several of her and Diva's friends ambled in the lounge chatting amongst themselves, while Diva herself sat in the middle of the sofa dramatically reenacting the trial earlier today, causing her friends to laugh.

Adelbert entered the hall with refreshments and said, "There you are, Dona. Did you have a good rest?"

"Yes, sir. I didn't realize it was so late though."

"Do not be concerned. Everyone understands what you went through and agreed to leave you be. If you are well enough though, please sit down and talk with your friends. I will arrange for the meal and cake to be brought out shortly."

"Hmm…" she nodded and entered the living room. Several friends cheerfully greeted her, although they knew Diva more than Dona and didn't say much else to her. She looked around for one particular person, and she found her leaning against the wall with her arms folded like she was a tough-mannered bully. The other guests seemed to stay away from her, as she was about six feet tall and possessed an imposing aura that probably scared them.

When the tall girl noticed Dona though, her mood brightened up and she gave her a tight hug while exclaiming, "There you are! Are you doing all right?"

"I'm okay, Brune."

"I was so worried about you after finding out what happened. I thought of sneaking upstairs and checking on you 'cause I was bored out of my mind watching everyone else have fun."

"I'm sorry that you had to be a wallflower while waiting for me. You don't know anybody else here."

"Nah, it's fine. Let's sit down for a bit."

Dona's worried friend was really named Brunhilde Volsung, but everyone called her Brune for short. She didn't go to Themis Legal Academy, but rather attended an all girls Christian high school. Amazingly, and in stark contrast with Dona's prim and proper attitude, Brunhilde was part of the _sukeban_ subculture, or the female equivalent of the male gangsters known as _banchou_. She would normally wear her brown school uniform with a lengthened skirt, a facial mask to hide her nose and mouth, and keep her long hair up in a stylish tucked up French braid pinned with wing-shaped hairpins. For the evening though, she kept her hair down and her attire simple. Among fellow gangsters, Brunhilde was known as the 'Valkyrie' due to those hair decorations, and her own gang was called the Valkyrie Wings in her honor.

The pair had met under some unusual circumstances during Dona's freshman year, and they kept in touch for the last four years despite being part of different social cultures. Dona wasn't a very socially active girl due to her constitution, so Brunhilde promised to stay friends with her. Unfortunately, the gangster girl's presence also frightened away other students from being Dona's friend, much like what was happening with this party.

Neither of them paid much mind to it as Brunhilde said, "So I heard that Mr. Wright backed you up during the trial."

"Yes, it was really unexpected," Dona replied. "I didn't think I would get to see him again, and under such bizarre circumstances."

"Wow, can't believe four years have passed since then."

"Is your sister doing okay?"

"Yeah, she's officially taken over Mom's CEO position. After I graduate, I'm going to join the company as a designer and put the gangster life behind me. Another one of the girls said she'll take over the Valkyrie Wings for me."

"What about your boyfriend? I remember you two having a rough time with your relationship at first."

"He's training at the local college to become a fellow designer. Sis is covering his tuition, but she expects him to repay the debt while working under her."

"That sounds fantastic," Dona nodded. "Things are really moving fast for all of us."

"I know," Brunhilde agreed. "None of this would have been possible had you not introduced me to Mr. Wright and convinced him to help me."

"We didn't really get a chance to talk about that time, but he remembered who I was at least."

As they conversed, the doorbell rang and Adelbert answered it. Dona noticed that he was at the door for an unusually long while talking with someone, but then he accepted a small gift-wrapped box and closed the door. She asked, "Who was that, Bertie?"

"It was Ms. Eve. She just came to drop this off for both you and Diva, and that she had some news regarding Mrs. Impressa's death. She said that the lab tests on some of her tissue revealed the presence of succinylcholine in her system, just as you had deduced. Forensic investigators also managed to connect Dr. Impressa with the needle that he used to inject it into his wife while she was sleeping this morning before going to the courthouse."

"I see. So another hearing will have to be scheduled for her murder."

"You certainly won't have any further part in that debacle, young lady," the butler sternly told her.

"I know. You must have lost a few years of your life worrying about me."

"I humbly request that you leave my age out of this discussion."

With that news settled, the group gathered around the table for presents while Adelbert prepared the last touches of their dinner. Most of the gifts were in pairs so that each twin would receive the same thing, although some were exclusive to each girl. It was Dona's turn now, and she reached in to fetch a present addressed to her from someone named Caleb. She looked around the room but couldn't find the person in question, so she asked Diva, "Is Caleb not here today?"

"Apparently not," Diva looked just as puzzled as her sibling. "I stopped by next door, but one of his relatives said that an emergency had come up and that he couldn't make it."

"What kind of emergency?"

"Beats me. I haven't seen him at school either as of late."

"Hmm…" Dona pondered while opening the gift, which contained a series of mystery novels that she had wanted.

The classmate they were referring to was a male student named Caleb Murphy, who was also part of a well-off family like they were. He was the youngest son of Montgomery and Chloe Murphy, who were the CEOs of Murphy Financial Corporation, and his older siblings were set to inherit international offices, high positions and businesses of their own. Caleb, on the other hand, decided to become a prosecutor and went to Themis with the twins, studying in the same course as Diva. The Murphys owned a house next door to the DiPrimas and Caleb had been born around the same time as the twins, so they grew up and went to the same schools together. Caleb not showing up at the girls' party felt highly unusual to them, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. The fact that he remembered to send them a gift would have to suffice.

The only single present that was addressed to both twins was from Nye, so they opened it together. Inside was a metallic statuette of a pair of Siamese kittens with a blue and green gem functioning as their mismatched eyes - the eye colors were also reversed. One cat had a miniature holly sprig super-glued to its head, and the other similarly had a camellia. One of Diva's friends crooned, "Aww, that's so adorable! It's exactly like what you two have!"

"I'm surprised she even noticed," Dona remarked.

It was true; the twins had heterochromia, and the colors were reversed in each one. Dona's right eye was blue and the left green, and vice versa for Diva. That was one of four ways people could use to tell them apart. Another was their vastly different personalities, along with how they dressed. The last method was to refer to the hair decoration they pinned to their black hair bands. Dona's was a fake holly, which in floriography meant 'defense' and 'domestic happiness' to refer to her settled personality. Diva's was a fake camellia, representing 'admiration' and 'perfection' to highlight her vivacious mannerisms.

Although it could be classified as the 'cheapest' gift they had received, it was the one that possessed the most sincerity, especially for Dona. She decided to place it upon the room's vanity so they could see it clearly every day. From there, the night proceeded with the meal and cake, just like any other typical birthday.

 **Turnabout Apprentice - END**


	11. Turnabout Wing - 1

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Flashback: Part 1**

 **October 23, 2031**

 **3:00 PM**

 **Wright Anything Agency**

Several days had passed since the trial on Saturday, and Dona got caught up with her necessary rest prior to the new school week starting yesterday. On Monday, the dean summoned her to his office, informing her that he agreed to let her continue her internship in Phoenix Wright's office. Now it was Tuesday afternoon after classes were over, and Dona followed the directions on her card to the building in question. She stared up at the sign, which read, "Wright Anything Agency."

 _This must be the place. I know of its unorthodox reputation as a legal office and an odd-job place, but I never thought I'd be allowed to step through these doors as an apprentice._

Dona went inside and found the door, then knocked on it. No one answered right away. After knocking again several times, she tried the doorknob and realized it was unlocked.

 _That's odd. If no one is here, why would they leave the door open? Mr. Wright should know that I'm coming today, so why isn't he here?_

On a hunch, the student decided to enter anyway, and she murmured, "Please excuse the intrusion."

The office was dark, so she flicked on a light to discover that the place hardly met the definition of a legal office by any reasonable standard. Sure, there were three different desks for Phoenix and his two partners, but they were terribly messy and unkempt. The sofa was usable, but a plethora of random items were scattered around the place, including a trophy with an ugly blue beanie hat resting on the top, some items obviously pertaining to magic tricks, a rather old tree with a nameplate that read 'Charley', some shelves containing legal literature, and a table with magic show-related items as well as the photo of a man in a magician's costume hanging on the wall.

Dona observed the photo and thought, _Isn't that someone from that famous magic troupe from way back when? Bertie liked to show us TV shows containing their tricks and explaining how they worked._

She turned around, and that was when she found someone standing right behind her!

"Ah!?" she yelped.

The figure turned out to be a girl in her late teens or early 20s with short brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue magician's costume similar to the man in the photo, complete with a top hat and capelet stylized like card suits. She didn't possess any semblance of expression on her face.

"I-I'm sorry!" Dona bowed. "I didn't mean to intrude, but Mr. Wright was expecting me, and-"

"… Pick a card."

"I beg your pardon?"

With amazing dexterity, the magician girl neatly fanned out a full deck of cards in her hand with the flick of her thumb. She urged, "Go ahead, pick one."

"Um… sure," Dona pinched her fingers around a random card and pulled it out, then observed what was on the other side. It was the queen of hearts, along with her own student card taped to the back! The confused student went through her wallet and realized that her card had been missing until now, even though she was absolutely positive she had it on her during the day!

"Hee hee, are you surprised, Dona DiPrima?" the magician asked with a pleasant smile.

"I, uh… I have a lot of questions for you. But I suppose the first one should be 'who are you?'."

"Don't worry. I'm no one suspicious."

 _Even though you somehow managed to steal my student card?_

"I'm Trucy Wright, the daughter of Phoenix Wright," the stranger introduced herself. "I'm one-fourth of the Wright Anything Agency, where we provide any service at any time in order to make everyone happy! Oh, but I suppose I should say I'm one-fifth of the agency for a while, since Daddy said you'd be coming in to help out."

"So Mr. Wright already told you about me?" Dona asked. "And you're the only one here to greet me?"

"You catch on quick, just like Daddy said! Yeah, he and the others went out to do some investigations for their cases. The office has been busy for the last while, so Daddy originally wasn't going to have an intern because of that. But I guess with you here, he must have changed his mind."

"A busy legal office may be a sign of bad times, but it's a good sign for business. At least, that's what Bertie always says."

"Right! I remember way back when it was just Daddy and me, and I was the only one providing the income. Now it's grown to four people and we're all pitching in together!"

"I feel like I'm intruding on such a lively atmosphere."

"Don't worry about it. If Daddy wants you here, then it's the same for Polly and Thena. Of course, that goes for me as well!"

"Is that so? Then I'll do whatever I can to help, Trucy," Dona bowed. "By the way, I should mention that this is the second time I've ever been to this office."

"The second?" Trucy looked puzzled. "When was the first?"

"About four years ago. I only spoke with your father back then, so it may not be surprising that you don't remember me."

"Oh, so were you a client?"

"No, I wasn't. I actually accompanied the client's sister to request for his legal assistance."

"Oooh, sounds like a long story! I have some time to kill before my next show, so let's sit down and have a chat about it!" Trucy guided Dona to the sofa.

"Shouldn't I be helping out with the office somehow? The place is a mess, and-"

"Don't worry about it. Any attempt you make at cleaning will just be wrecked the next day. It'd be more productive for you to tell me this story of yours!"

"If you say so. Well, I should actually backtrack to when I first met the client's sister, right around when I began my freshman year at Themis."

* * *

 _ **Four years ago…**_

 **September 5, 2027**

 **3:15 PM**

 **Outside Themis Legal Academy**

It was only the second day of the new school year for the prestigious legal high school, and the last bell for classes rung throughout the academy. It would be over another month before the events surrounding Constance Courte and Aristotle Means would occur, so life prior to that tumultuous case was normal for everyone. The 12-year old Dona, just like any other freshman student, felt daunted by the sheer size of the facility and the number of students attending classes with her.

This was also the first time she would not be in the same class as Diva since they were now pursuing different career choices and had to be cordoned with the other students based on this decision. In addition, Dona's health condition made it difficult for her to pursue any strenuous club activities that were popular with the other students, and it wasn't a good idea to have her stay during after school hours to participate in these clubs. Adelbert would never forgive himself if he found out that Dona had put herself through unnecessary stress like that, so he had made arrangements with her professors to ensure her well-being while at school.

Thus, Dona left the academy by herself while Diva participated in the acting club's introductory session. Since it was orientation week for the new batch of students, she didn't have to worry about doing any homework for now, so she had spent most of her free time reading in the library. She borrowed some novels to read at home and hauled them in her backpack while walking out of the school grounds.

Just then, she heard a male voice call out to her, "Hi there!"

"Hmm?" she faced a classmate wearing a blue gakuran who waved her over. He had mid-length platinum blonde hair tied in a low ponytail and brown eyes, and wore a white jacket pinned over his shoulders which was a style that was in vogue at the time. Any romance-driven girl would have called him a proverbial prince, but Dona didn't have such interest in boys.

"We have the same teacher together, right? Professor Byron Lawe?" he asked.

"Yes, I have him too. I think I saw you sitting at the opposite side of the same row as me."

"Right. I'm Sigurd Nibelung, the son of Sigmund Nibelung."

"As in Nibelung Software's CEO? He's famous for his rags to riches story."

"Indeed. May I ask for your name?"

"Dona DiPrima. You might run into my twin sister in the prosecutor course, but her name's Diva. Our mother was Louise DiPrima, a famous actress known for her natural beauty and iconic roles. Unfortunately, she died when we were very little."

"How unfortunate," Sigurd murmured. "But her inherent esthetic sense clearly lives on within you. Who knows? You may become a Madonna of the courtroom much like she was on the silver screen."

"You think so? I'm not so gung ho about appearances like my sister is," Dona adjusted her large round glasses.

"You really should be. It'd be a shame to let your mother's legacy for natural beauty die off in you."

"Um… So was there something you wanted from me, or were you trying to entrance me with needless compliments?"

Sigurd chuckled and said, "You're a funny one! Actually, I was thinking of walking home with you. There's been some gang activity going on in the town lately, and I wouldn't allow a lady to go through such territory unprotected."

"Gang activity? I hadn't heard of that."

"There's been a turf war going on between the Fafnir Crusaders and the Valkyrie Wings. The Crusaders are from an all boys Buddhist school and the Valkyries from an all girls Christian school. It's nowhere near as violent as, say, a gunfight between the Cadaverini and Kitaki families, but these two gangs aren't beyond involving innocent civilians in their petty scuffles."

"Is it a religiously-motivated rivalry?"

"I don't think so. Most members of both groups are delinquents who aren't interested in religion. It's probably just fighting over a bit of territory, as well as getting involved with selling drugs and committing some dangerous crimes for hazing reasons."

"That sounds really terrifying. But I didn't think someone like you would be so well-versed in the ways of gang life," Dona remarked.

"Just like Father always says, 'Information is as important as life.' Being alive is all well and good, but living in ignorance will cut your life tragically short," Sigurd intoned with a flair of importance.

"I can see the wisdom behind that. The only problem is that it's faster for me to go home using that route, which leads me into these gangs' territory."

"Don't worry. I have an alternate route in mind that takes us to where I live, near the new Square Way Mall they're building. Then you just backtrack a little to your neighborhood. I'll show you the way."

Dona followed Sigurd through the city for a few minutes while chatting about classes. Eventually, they rounded the corner where a major construction project was underway to build the Square Way shopping center, which was a tall building comprised of ten floors; the upper nine would be for stores, and the lowest one would have an indoor amusement park.

"I come through here every day and I'm always amazed at how much progress they make, rain or shine," Sigurd complimented.

"Why is this place being built? I didn't think this city needed such a grandiose shopping mall," Dona wondered.

"It's part of a massive undertaking meant to revitalize the city's economy and promote tourism. Many business owners have come together to fund the project in exchange for owning a percentage of the mall's stock as well as buying up space for their businesses. Naturally, Father has contributed and will be having one of his electronic stores built here, and his company will oversee installation of many television monitors throughout the mall."

"Sounds more like a lofty business venture than an attempt to boost tourism."

"That's true for now. But the fruit of everyone's labor and investments will only show once money begins changing hands."

"I suppose so."

The pair went around a large section of the sidewalk that was blocked off by construction pylons and police tape. A construction crane raised its arm high above them to deliver a thick steel girder to workers on the skeletal-like fifth floor. A piercing snap alerted the teenagers, and they looked up in shock to discover that the cable holding the girder had broken off and was falling straight for Dona! She froze, unable to even squeeze her eyes shut in terror.

She couldn't remember much else than feeling the sensation of being tackled off to the side by someone, followed by the deafening clang of the girder smashing against the pavement. At first she thought it was Sigurd that had come to her rescue. When she opened her eyes however, she found herself held close to a tall female student wearing a brown sailor uniform with an unusually long skirt. She had a mask over her nose and mouth, and held her hair up in an elegant braid around the back of her head. Dona found Sigurd nearby sitting on his butt in total surprise.

Several workers dashed out of the construction site and yelled at the students, "Hey! Are you all right!?"

Dona sat on the ground in shock, allowing her rescuer to let her go and dash toward another entrance into the site. The workers called out after her, but couldn't take chase because of how fast she was combined with their concern for the two stricken students. After a couple of minutes, and to their amazement, a group of three boys in stylized gakuran outfits dashed out of the site with the young woman in hot pursuit, screaming at them to stop!

"Hey, those are-!" Sigurd uttered.

" _Those damn punks again!?_ " one of the men shouted with fury. "Call the police! Those gangsters have been spotted vandalizing the place again!"

His partner dialed his cell phone, and cacophony ensued as everyone rushed around to see what had gone wrong. All this while, Dona had not said a word until Sigurd leaned over her and extended his hand, asking, "Are you okay?"

"I think so… Somehow…" she accepted his gesture, and he helped her stand up. They gazed at the girder that almost killed her, and she murmured quietly, "I wonder how this happened."

"There was a loud snap somewhere. Maybe something went wrong with the machinery."

"I don't think so. Take a look at the cable," she pointed to the heavy line in question. The ends were distinctly frayed from general wear and tear. Yet for some reason, a section of it appeared strangely clean cut in contrast to the messier tangled wires. "I think someone cut into it before work started."

"You've got to be kidding. Could it be those guys that the woman was chasing after?"

"I don't know. From the way the workers said that they had been vandalized before though, it's a high possibility."

They remained standing there for a few minutes until they heard the screech of car tires jolting to a stop. They saw a snazzy black 1959 Pontiac Bonneville being driven by a tall man with blonde hair and a beard, who scrambled out of the vehicle and ran up to Sigurd. The man placed his hands on the teen's shoulders and yelped, "There you are, Sigurd! Are you all right!?"

"I already said I was fine in my text, Father."

"'Father'?" Dona repeated curiously.

"Yes. I had thought of introducing you to him when we had arrived at my place, but I suppose life always throws curve balls on even the simplest of plans. Dona, this is Sigmund Nibelung, the founder of Nibelung Software and my father."

Sigurd went on to explain to his father everything that had happened up to this point, as well as introduced Dona to him. Sigmund bowed before her and asked, "I just want to be sure, but are you all right, young lady?"

"I'm still kind of reeling, but otherwise uninjured," she said.

"Good. I'm just glad this accident didn't result in either of you being casualties. I need to have a talk with the foreman and investigate what caused that girder to fall. If we don't bolster safety around the site, we could have enough incidents to warrant the city forcing us to shut down the project."

"Are you saying there were more incidents prior to this one, Mr. Nibelung?"

"Yes, there were. We've been trying to keep this out of the media's radar, but the Fafnir Crusaders gang has been trying to claim the construction site as their 'turf' in their little war against the Valkyrie Wings. The police agreed to cooperate with us, but their security had been light since the incidents mostly involved theft and vandalism. I suppose all of that has to change now that you two were almost killed."

"Why would they steal from a construction site?"

"To sell metal for their little gangster activities. Several buyers have tipped us off to several high school boys trying to sell small items from the site, and they were mostly from the school where the Fafnirs get together."

"So they're trying to claim the construction site as their turf to make some money. What would they want to purchase with such illicit funds?"

"I imagine stuff that would put them on par with real crime families. But remember, this is all hush hush, you hear? If the media tries to ask you anything, you tell them to speak with me, okay? I don't want you getting into trouble because of what I told you," Sigmund waved his finger in a _tsk_ ing gesture.

"Yes, sir."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find the foreman."

"I will accompany you, Father," Sigurd said. "This would be a good opportunity for me to learn about crisis management when innocent civilians are involved. Dona, wait here until the police arrive to take your statement. I'm sure they will escort you to the hospital for a check up later, if you want to have one done."

"I'll think about it, but I really am fine," Dona assured. With that, the father and son duo left her standing on the cordoned sidewalk. After a few minutes, she noticed the masked girl in the brown school uniform running toward her.

"There you are!" she panted heavily. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm okay, thanks to you. But why did you take off from the scene so suddenly?"

"You saw those boys running out of the area, right? They're from the Fafnir Crusaders gang. I wanted to beat them up for trespassing on public property, so I took chase after them. I caught one of them and made him spill the beans, but the other two got away," she clenched her hand, which had a trace amount of someone else's blood smeared on the knuckles.

"Oh… So by 'spill the beans', you mean he confessed to something?"

"The police have him in custody now, but he babbled to me something about cutting the cable with industrial wire cutters. Then they had to take cover when the crane operator showed up. Apparently someone had paid them to do it but they couldn't finish the job in time, leading to this mess."

 _Maybe it has something to do with the string of metal thefts that Mr. Nibelung was telling me about before,_ Dona thought. Although she couldn't mention anything about the thefts to this girl, she was able to say, "I've heard from some people at my school that the Fafnirs were trying to claim this Square Way construction site as their gang turf. I had also heard that they were involved in a rivalry with an all girls gang called the-"

"Valkyrie Wings," the other student interrupted her.

"So you know about them too?"

"'Know about them'? I'm their boss!"

"… I'm sorry. Could you repeat that for me?"

"Whoops. Guess I should have made myself a little clearer. I'm the boss of the Valkyrie Wings gang, Brunhilde Volsung. That name's too fancy for people to remember, so everyone just calls me Brune."

Dona's throat went so dry that she had to clear it a few times. "Oh… their boss… you say…"

"Don't worry. We're not a 'bad' gang like the Fafnirs are."

 _Is there such a thing as a 'good' gang to begin with?_

"We actually organized in retaliation to what those punks were doing throughout our neighborhood. We got fed up with the police not doing anything about it, so we're taking matters into our own hands."

"So you're more like vigilantes than an organization of legal minors committing petty crimes," Dona said.

"You make it sound like some kind of fuddy-duddy legal term," Brunhilde muttered.

"That shouldn't come as a surprise. I'm Dona DiPrima, a freshman at Themis Legal Academy."

"Oh, so _that's_ where I saw your uniform before! No wonder I was having a sense of déjà vu! Look, I just came back to see if you're okay, but I need to rendezvous with the girls and form a plan of action. If you want, we can chat some more later," the gangster girl offered her a folded slip of paper with an address sloppily written inside.

"What would you want to 'chat' with me about?"

"Hey, is it wrong for me to make friends with someone whose life I just saved? Especially since we're both in our freshman year."

 _The only thing I see wrong with this picture is that Bertie would have a hernia if he found out I was being chummy with gangsters. And no matter which way I slice it, she's obviously too old to be in the same grade as me. She looks like she 15 or 16, not 12 or 13 like me. Did she fall behind a few grades?_

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?" the older student muttered sourly.

"Nothing. I'll think about your offer later. I need to give my statement to the police when they get here, so I can't leave the scene," Dona said.

"Fair enough. Promise me you'll come someday! I'm sure the girls would like to meet you!" With that parting line, Brunhilde ran down the street. Once again, Dona was left alone waiting for the police to arrive. She examined the paper and tried to visualize what area of town the address referred to.

 _I think it's more to the southwestern area of town just past Themis. I went with Sigurd in order to avoid that area by taking a northeast route, then rounding back down to the southeast neighborhood where I live. I'm not sure how much stock I should put into Brune saying she was leading a 'good gang', but this Fafnir Crusaders gang is proving to be a lot more troublesome. If they're trying to take over the mall construction site, then it would be a terrible idea for me to come this way anymore._

… _Hmm? But if that's the case, wouldn't Sigurd have known that as well? It's evident he took pride in obtaining as much information as he could, so I can't imagine him being unaware of these recent activities. Maybe I should ask him during lunch break tomorrow._


	12. Turnabout Wing - 2

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Flashback: Part 2**

 **September 12, 2027**

 **3:15 PM**

 **Unknown Location  
**

A week had passed since the girder accident, which made local headlines for the first few days. Since Dona and Sigurd were minors, their names had not been released to the public, plus Adelbert hired a respected lawyer to protect Dona from any potential paparazzi or 'journalists' seeking a scoop. Thus her involvement with the media remained relatively minor, save for giving an anonymous statement about what actually happened. As for Sigurd's lapse in information, she inquired him about that during school hours. He admitted that he simply didn't know about what the Fafnirs had been up to lately, but had since learned everything from Sigmund.

The construction site workers cooperated with the police to tightly cordon off the area from any future gang activities, leading to the arrest of several male students attempting to trespass. Dona kept up with this news during the week, paying particular attention to if any female students were involved in this ruckus. To her surprise, she hadn't seen anything related to the Valkyrie Wings, causing her to wonder if Brunhilde's claim that they weren't a 'bad' gang actually had some credence.

After school today, Dona called Adelbert and said she would be late because she was studying in the library. However, that wasn't the case at all. She actually headed toward the location that was written on the piece of paper that Brunhilde left her. It turned out to be an old park with worn down equipment and dilapidating basketball nets that didn't get much use from the local children due to better and safer parks being built.

Dona meandered around the area for a bit looking for any sign of Brunhilde or her gang. At first she couldn't find anyone, but then she noticed a small shed with a light turned on inside at the outer edge of the aged park, surrounded by old trees that badly needed to be cut down. She spotted someone's silhouette moving inside, and then the door opened with a creak.

A tough-looking girl about 15 years old stepped out and saw Dona standing there awkwardly. She wore the same brown school uniform as Brunhilde and wielded a crude nail bat, so Dona figured she had found the right spot. The girl brusquely muttered, "Who're you supposed to be?"

"Pardon me for the intrusion. I was given these directions by your superior Brunhilde Volsung, and she wanted me to pay her a visit here," Dona explained.

"Those clothes… You wouldn't be from that elitist legal high school, would you?"

"If you're talking about Themis, then I am."

"I ain't buyin' your story. Lemme see that note."

Dona handed the girl the paper and she examined it closely. She raised her eyebrows as if somewhat convinced, then demanded, "Gimme your name and I'll talk to the Boss."

"Dona DiPrima. She rescued me from that construction accident last week."

"Right, right. She'll tell me if you're pullin' my chain or not."

The sharp-tongued gangster went back into the cabin, making Dona wait for a few minutes. After what felt like a terribly long while, Brunhilde came out and exclaimed, "Hey there! You decided to come! Sorry for the terrible reception, but we have to be careful about the Fafnirs sending in female moles to spy on us."

"It's no problem. You were the only one of your group who met me then, so it's no surprise that I was doubted so much."

"Come in for a bit and I'll introduce you to the girls."

Dona followed Brunhilde inside the shed, where about ten girls either stood around or sat on worn out chairs surrounding a table with papers strewn about. The gang leader explained who the newcomer was and what happened before. While their demeanor remained mean and tough, they began to warm up to Dona once they understood that she truly owed a debt of gratitude to Brunhilde.

Once the introductions were out of the way, Dona asked her, "So why did you want me to come here? Were you thinking of inducting me as a member of your group?"

"No, that ain't it," Brunhilde said. "Only fellow classmates from our school can join. I actually wanted to ask you something in person."

"What would that be?"

"One of the girls here is the daughter of a deputy, and she overheard him saying that the arrested Fafnir members had confessed about some kind of hit job that they were hired to do on someone in particular. It involved the target passing by the construction site and that the girder was planned to fall right on them. From there, the death would be disguised as an accident. Apparently either you or that boy were the target, and the job failed because both of you survived."

"Is that so?" Dona wondered. "So you're suggesting that they could try to kill one of us again?"

"Maybe. Since we Valkyrie Wings initially formed to retaliate against the Fafnirs' brutality, learning that they'll do hit jobs has really put us on edge. I want to know if you or that boy have somehow angered them enough to want to kill you."

"I had never heard of either of your groups until Sigurd mentioned them to me last week. For me to have caused trouble with them is unfathomable."

"Okay. So who's this Sigurd guy?"

"The classmate I was with during the accident. He's Sigurd Nibelung, the only son of Nibelung Software's CEO."

"… Nibelung?" Brunhilde murmured as if she recognized the name.

"Do you know him?"

"Just the name. But that's nothing for you to worry about. So if you couldn't have possibly provoked the Fafnirs, then maybe it was him. Or it could be that the CEO and fellow investors are interfering with their activities."

"I don't know about that," Dona murmured. "You just said that the Fafnirs were hired by someone to kill a specific person. So it might not matter if Sigurd or I personally know that gang – it's the other person who wanted one of us murdered. They were just doing the grunt work on their client's behalf."

"Ohhh, that makes sense," Brunhilde replied. "I wonder if it could be _him_ behind this."

"'Him'? Is there someone you have in mind?"

Another girl raised her hand and uttered, "That's classified. Outsiders don't need to know, and you can't become a Valkyrie unless you attend the same school as us."

"Oh, that's unfortunate. I thought this would wind up being a useful clue."

Brunhilde sighed, then said, "I'll make her an honorary member."

"'Honorary'? What're you goin' on about, Boss?" the first girl that Dona met grumbled. "You know we can't involve outsiders in our war against the Fafnirs!"

"Even if we don't want Dona to join us, she's still a potential target of theirs. I couldn't forgive myself if I found out she had died during another 'accident' that we could have prevented. That's why I want to keep her under our surveillance – I want to isolate either her or Sigurd as the Fafnirs' target, and then see about protecting them until the police arrest the gang. Plus if it's Sigurd that they want to kill, Dona can keep tabs on him at her school since they're classmates."

The others glanced between themselves apprehensively. Dona decided to add, "It's true that I can't fight like any of you can. However, I hope to make up for it by gathering information from my classmates at Themis. Since many of them have connections through their parents, I can always ask around and see if they've learned anything."

Although they didn't look convinced, the other girls relented. One said, "All right. If the Boss says you're cool, then we ain't in much position to argue about it."

"So does this mean I'm allowed to hear about any information you have on the Fafnirs?"

"Yep. You were askin' about who this mystery person was that the Boss was goin' on about, right? I'm guessin' she meant Balmung."

"Balmung?"

Brunhilde explained, "Most people on the streets know the leader of the Fafnirs to be a drop-out named Gunther Defekt. He's incredibly dangerous and volatile, and he won't think twice about roughing you up if you so much as look at him the wrong way. But we Valkyries know better than to fall prey to common water cooler rumors. We recently found out that Gunther's actually taking orders from someone higher than him."

"And that would be this Balmung person?" Dona deduced.

"Exactly. We first had our suspicions when we looked into their previous crimes and realized they were a little too 'organized' for a neanderthal like Gunther to plan. It took a lot of investigating on our part, and this information actually came at the cost of one of the girls being beaten up so brutally that she was hospitalized."

"Oh, dear…"

"Don't worry, she's promised us that she'll recover. Fortunately, she managed to tell us that Gunther had orders from Balmung to send some guys to the construction site to cause that girder accident. Not only that, but Balmung was responsible for masterminding other crimes the Fafnirs committed such as a well-executed robbery on a bank, stealing cars to sell for scrap, and extorting certain businesses within their turf in exchange for 'protection'. There's no way a high school drop out like Gunther can pull off these heists and still confuse the police."

"I guess not. So it's Balmung who wants either Sigurd or I murdered?"

"That I'm not too sure about yet. It's true that he commands the Fafnirs to do his bidding, but we can't say with certainty if he is likewise being hired by someone else to use his guys as hitmen. That's why we're feeling the pressure; we need to find information on this guy and put him away ASAP before his gang destroys this city from inside-out."

"This might sound like an obvious question, but haven't the authorities done anything about this situation?" Dona asked.

Brunhilde rolled her eyes. "If they had, we wouldn't be here."

"Hmm… So are any of these documents you have related to Balmung?"

"We actually don't have a whole lot on him. Most of these files are dossiers, maps of our territories, articles about their past activities, and notes that the girls and I compiled. Go ahead and take a look if you want."

Dona quietly perused the many sheets of paper lying about on the table while the gangster girls talked amongst each other about their latest findings unrelated to her case. She was rather impressed with the level of intelligence gathering they had done thus far, although it seemed unkempt and random at first glance. She struggled to mentally keep every bit of information in order, and even wondered if she should buy some supplies to help them stay organized.

From what she understood, the Valkyrie Wings was a very small gang in comparison to the Fafnir Crusaders, as evidenced by the number of member profiles. Yet, not all of the Fafnirs were students; some were actually ex-employees of various businesses and corporations such as engineers, chemists, researchers, writers, bank tellers, computer technicians, and even a police officer gone rogue.

 _Perhaps 'gang' is a misnomer to use for this group. It looks like they're more of an underground cabal operating under this Balmung person's leadership. These are the kinds of occupations that could provide all sorts of insight into committing various crimes within different industries. My guess is that they inform him about the best way to pull off some kind of illicit activity, then he organizes the student members to go out and perform them._

 _Furthermore, the Valkyries can't exactly bring this list to the police because the members are too random for them to link together as part of a single group. The only thing they could go on is that everyone is male, and that doesn't mean much when that applies to many other gangs and mob families out there. In fact, an all female gang like the Valkyries could garner more attention from the authorities instead._

Once she was finished reading the papers and putting her thoughts together, Dona said to Brunhilde, "I think I have a firm grasp of the situation now. I'll do what I can to look into Balmung's identity through the city's upper echelons. My theory is that he's a charismatic person who brings together people with unfortunate circumstances and manipulates them into seeking out better lives through crime."

"Damn, you got that kind of profile from that mess of papers?" one of the girls commented.

"It's based upon these dossiers as evidence. Many of these people, if not all, possess talents that could be applied to better things, but their unemployed status inspires them to pursue a life of crime for easy money. For all of these random tradesmen and failing students with such differing personalities to gather under an unseen leader's flag, it tells me that his personality and/or words are attractive enough for them to follow religiously.

"It's akin to past national leaders who united their people through things such as patriotism, unification, and turning other social groups into scapegoats. That's why I believe Balmung is someone who lives among this city's influential, since he can find these unemployed workers and convince them to join him. I don't think they would listen to him if he didn't have any money to throw around either."

"I guess that makes sense," Brunhilde scratched her chin. "So we'll have to leave the Themis investigation up to you. We'll keep on checking the streets as usual."

"How often should I return here to make my report?"

"We meet every afternoon, but you can give me a call and let me know when you want to stop by should you have a new lead. You mentioned that it would be very difficult for you to be seen around us without your guardian getting suspicious."

"Yes, it would be," Dona nodded. "In fact, I should start heading home now. Bertie thinks I'm at the library, and it'll almost be closing time."

"Can you make it back yourself?"

"I can hail a cab."

"Good. Then we'll speak again soon, my fellow Valkyrie."

 _So I'm an honorary Valkyrie Wings member, huh? It almost feels strange for me to be part of a street gang, but Brune's really backing up her words with her level of research and determination. Plus it would benefit me if this Balmung character is trying to kill me instead of Sigurd. But if it's proven that Sigurd is the target instead…_

Dona pondered these things while bidding the gangsters good night and leaving the shed behind.

* * *

 **October 13, 2027**

 **3:00 PM**

 **Themis Legal Academy – Front Entrance**

Another day of school concluded, and Dona waited at a bench just outside the academy to meet up with Brunhilde. They had planned to meet here earlier so that the gangster could escort her friend to her neighborhood. Once they got close to the DiPrima residence, Brunhilde would part ways so that Adelbert wouldn't see Dona with her. This plan worked out for the whole month since Dona had not encountered any further danger since then.

It would be another 11 days before Constance Courte was murdered, and it was also the week before the twins' 13th birthdays, although Dona didn't make a particularly big deal out of it. In short, it was just another average day so there wasn't much for them to talk about during this afternoon's walk. Dona spotted Brunhilde running toward her frantically.

"Hah… Hah… Hah… Sorry I'm so late!" the exhausted gangster huffed. "The head nun called me into her office and chewed me out over something stupid."

"It's okay. I was just finishing my work for the day," Dona assured as she put her books away and stood up. "Did you get into trouble again?"

"No, no, no! It was just something stupid. That's all."

Dona knew that whenever Brunhilde said 'something stupid', it was something embarrassing that she didn't want to talk about. She knew better than to pry whenever her friend was being defensive like this, so she dropped the issue and said, "Well, let's get going then."

Before either of them could move a step, they heard a calm male voice's call out, "I was wondering where you were, Dona."

They found Sigurd approaching them at a slight jogging pace as if he was in a hurry. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but I need to ask you what our assignments are for the terminology class. I missed Professor Lawe's lesson because of my sudden bout of stomach pains."

"It's no problem," his classmate said and told him the assignment details.

"Superb. You've been most helpful, as always," Sigurd nodded, then glanced at the silent Brunhilde and asked, "Who is your companion? From her uniform, I gather she is not from around here."

"Remember that construction accident last month? This is the girl who saved me."

"Oh, yes! I had a moment of déjà vu, but could not figure out what had triggered it! Ah, so that was it. We didn't get a chance to talk during that time, but I must express my gratitude for you rescuing my classmate in spite of the danger that you subjected yourself to. Might I ask for your name, miss?"

Brunhilde didn't answer immediately, her eyes obviously transfixed on Sigurd. Dona snapped, "Brune!"

"Oh! Uh, I'm Brunhilde Volsung," the taller girl replied, covering her lower face. "Everyone calls me Brune though."

 _Is she actually… blushing?_

"Volsung? Are you related to Grimhilde Volsung, the owner of Volsung Apparel?" Sigurd asked.

"Yes, I am! I'm her younger daughter! My older sister is Kriemhilde!"

"Hmm," the boy pondered curiously. "Quite the coincidence, I must say."

Dona asked him, "Is something the matter?"

"Father used to be Mrs. Volsung's childhood friend. He spoke to me just recently and… Well, I suppose I shouldn't say this out loud to Brune, but-"

Sigurd pulled Dona aside and whispered, "They actually arranged for me to marry either one of her daughters."

She had a hard time believing what he was saying, but restrained her surprise for Brunhilde's sake. "In other words, you would be wed to either Kriemhilde or Brune?"

"Mostly likely it will be Kriemhilde, since she will be inheriting Volsung Apparel from her mother."

"Obviously you're meeting Brune for the first time, but have you meet Kriemhilde yet?"

"No. That will be arranged at a meeting later on. They expect me to get to know both daughters within the next few years, then decide on one when I turn 18."

Dona murmured curiously, "It sounds more like a business thing than anything romantic."

"You're right, but that's normal in the world of economics. Even Mother was married to Father in similar circumstances, so I'm not all that surprised about him planning for my future the same way."

"How do you feel about it?"

Sigurd stared at Dona for a long moment, his lips perfectly straight. It was the classic poker face, and she had an extremely difficult time reading his expression. Before she could ask him again, Brunhilde exclaimed, "What are you two whispering about over there? We have to get going already!"

"Oh, right," Dona yelped and joined her friend's side. "Excuse us, Sigurd."

"No, no, I am the one who took up your time. Thank you for your help."

The duo left Themis and headed toward Dona's neighborhood. Brunhilde seemed to let out sigh after sigh of relief, and Dona asked her, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Ah, well… T-To be honest with you… I didn't think Sigurd would be so nice."

"He's like that with everyone. Why does that surprise you?"

"I'm used to boys being all rude and violent toward me, and you know I have no patience for crap like that. So for a boy to say such nice things to me…"

"I see. You're having a hard time processing your reaction to a personality type you've never encountered before."

"Geez, you don't need to make it sound so stuffy. I never said that _all_ boys are mean to me, but Sigurd… Well…"

"What's so special about him?"

"Nothing, really! He was just so… What's the word I'm looking for? Charming? Bewitching? Attractive?"

Dona thought, _He may have handsome looks, but his appealing personality might actually be frightening considering that lots of other girls at Themis feel the same way about him. Some of them have even threatened me to stay away from him, even though I can't because we're in the same class. If they tried to intimidate Brune like that, they would be going to the nurse's office with some nasty injuries._

"I wouldn't put too much stock in what he says," she said aloud. "He was just thanking you for that day."

"I know. I just can't help but think about him. The shiny blonde hair, the white jacket over his shoulders, his clean blue outfit, and his big brown eyes…"

 _Oh, geez._

"In any case," Dona interrupted Brunhilde's fantasizing, "I'm a little worried about something after that rendezvous."

"What would that be?" the gangster wondered, snapping her out of her daydreaming.

"Sigurd recognized you from that day. It got me thinking that it might be troublesome if we're seen together too much in front of the academy. After all, I don't want Bertie to find out that I'm related to your gang in any way, and I'm concerned about Sigurd telling him what he saw today."

"Oh. So should we find another way to meet up?"

"Let's figure that out now."

"Sure. By the way, what were you and Sigurd whispering about so much back there?"

Dona shrugged lightly and muttered, "Something stupid."

* * *

 **November 1, 2027**

 **12:00 PM**

 **Themis Legal Academy - Roof**

After that day, Dona kept in touch with Brunhilde through conversations at a phone booth close to Themis, as it was too risky for her to use her cell phone and thus expose the phone numbers she had been calling. Dona had not attended another Valkyrine Wings meeting yet since her first visit because for all of her efforts asking around the campus, no one knew anything about Balmung and the Fafnir Crusaders. She still believed in her theory that Balmung was someone wealthy, but she couldn't find even one good lead to pursue.

That was until today when she met up with Diva and their childhood friend Caleb Murphy for lunch. They ate on the rooftop while chatting about various things, especially the school festival and the Constance Courte murder case that had just concluded over a week ago. The controversy surrounding the incident had many students worried about their professors deceiving them, not to mention the two radical philosophies that had split the school apart dividing everyone in a malevolent schism.

"I'm starting to see how hard the classes are, but that doesn't excuse our teachers accepting bribes from parents!" Diva exclaimed. "If that's how corrupted Themis has become, then we have to watch our backs for the next four years! We can't trust anyone, not even our own classmates!"

"Easy there, tiger," Caleb urged. "The courts are only just finding out these kinds of dealings and are cracking down on the professors. Because of that, the dean had to announce his resignation even though we're just beginning the school year."

"More like abandoned us to deal with the problem ourselves!"

Dona asked, "If the dean has left, who's going to fill in for him?"

"I heard the vice-principal was going to cover for the rest of the year, but then there would be some kind of major change made during the summer. Several lawyers, prosecutors and judges are going to cooperate with the faculty to do a major overhaul of Themis' academic structure. They want to eliminate the whole 'only results matter' versus 'finding the truth' debate that's been splitting everyone apart and re-unify the school as a place with only one philosophy."

"That certainly sounds like a lot to accomplish in only two months."

Caleb said, "We students have to cooperate during the year by reporting any strange activities to a new disciplinary club that the senior students have formed throughout the three courses. They'll help us juniors deal with any problems related to the corruption lurking within Themis, and meet with the vice-principal twice a month to give him any major updates. I hear that the defendant in Professor Courte's trial, Juniper Woods, would be leading the new club's judge course patrol."

"And those two witnesses who are close friends of hers will be acting as the leaders for the prosecutor and defense attorney courses' patrol. I think their last names were Newman and O'Connor," Diva murmured. "Newman's cool in my book, but I'm kind of worried about that O'Connor guy taking care of any issues in your course, Dona. He had to have been the worst witness in the history of law! Plus he's a 25-year old senior student! Who the hell has ever heard of _that_ , of all things!?"

Dona silently agreed with her sister's lack of confidence, but said, "It's only for the rest of the year. They'll graduate in June, and then different people will have to fill in for them. It might be a rotational thing they'll do every year with the graduating classes, since they've already had three years to see what goes on behind school walls."

"I sure hope these changes go smoothly," Diva muttered sourly. "I really want to graduate from here and become a prosecutor as soon as I can."

"I know."

Caleb noticed how sullen the twins sounded and sighed despondently. He sat next to Diva and assured, "Look, just focus on being the top of your classes. You still have plenty of time left."

"But when we become seniors, it might be too late to…" Diva looked away, not wanting to finish her statement. Dona didn't say anything, preferring to keep quiet and eat her lunch.

Just as Caleb was struggling to lighten the mood, another male's voiced called out, "Do you mind if I join in on your discussion?"

They turned around to find Sigurd standing at the door. Without waiting for a reply, he approached Dona and sat next to her while opening his bento box, which had an exquisite assortment of seafood, meat and rice arranged in a visually appealing design.

"Is something the matter? You don't look well," he asked, noting how pale his classmate looked.

"No, it's nothing to be worried about," she said. "We were just talking about the upcoming restructuring of Themis' faculty."

"Ah yes, that has become quite the affair, hasn't it? Father has become very concerned as well, seeing as how I am attending a school revealed to have sinister intentions with its student body. He has mentioned to me that he seeks to be an active contributor to the reformed Themis."

"How is he going to do that?" Dona asked. Behind her, Caleb appeared dissatisfied with the handsome student interfering with the trio's lunch time, but she failed to notice him.

"Actually, Father has been designing a program for major corporations that revolves around automating the process of employee discipline and work performance. For example in a large factory, upper management could breach their own safety policies, yet single out an employee for lack of the very same discipline. The program could be installed as a security measure at the front gate, which will not allow anyone to pass unless they wear safety gear imprinted with a specific bar code. If they enter without this equipment, a log will be made and security footage will be tagged to the entry for identification."

"You make it sound fancy, but it's just a tweaked security entrance with discipline in mind," Caleb muttered. "How is that supposed to help Themis out?"

"That's not the only way the program can be utilized," Sigurd explained, apparently not insulted by the other male's brusque manners. "I have been assisting Father with reformatting the software to function as an automated version of the disciplinary club that Ms. Woods and her friends formed. Essentially, students and faculty can access the program and write an anonymous report, which would then be forwarded to the board of directors and they would take further action. The program protects the person's identity, and only the directors would know who sent the report based on their unique bar code, which everyone would have printed on their student or faculty cards."

"There's still a lot of room for abuse there."

"It's not the finalized version yet, and many test runs will have to be performed. But if this works as intended, then it will be a failsafe way for students to participate in keeping Themis a safe school to study at while protecting their confidentiality. The reason why such corruption had festered in this academy was due to lack of self-regulation. Father hopes to address this issue with his program."

Diva shared in Caleb's doubt of this plan working, but simply said, "Well, good for him. But until that all gets sorted out, we still need to have the discipline club in place."

"I fully understand that. Again, it is still in the beta phase, but I assure you that it shows much promise. Father has nicknamed this software GRAM, or Guided Regulation and Anonymous Monitoring, but this is actually the fifth version of his life's work. The absolute first prototype for this program was originally called the Burglary and Arson Laser Mechanism Using Nanotechnology Guidance, or just BALMUNG for short. We plan on calling this new version THEMIS, or-"

Dona nearly choked on her sushi. As Sigurd prattled on about his father's program, she was lost in momentary thought.

 _BALMUNG? It can't be a coincidence… right?_

* * *

 **November 1, 2027**

 **3:15 PM**

 **Themis Avenue - Phone Booth**

After classes finished for the day, Dona went to the phone booth on Themis Avenue and called Brunhilde about this new tip.

" _So there's a connection between the name Balmung and Sigmund Nibelung's corporation,"_ Brunhilde murmured after listening to Dona's detailed explanation.

"It's not the best lead around, but it's the only one I could find."

" _Oh, don't worry if it's good or not! It's something we can definitely work with!"_

"But I find it hard to believe that the Nibelung family could be directly tied to the Fafnirs. It's possible that our mystery leader borrowed the idea from Sigmund since the acronym isn't used anymore."

" _You said it was a code name for the program he's developing, right? Only people who worked on the project with him would know what the original name for it was."_

"That's true, but…"

" _What's wrong with my logic? If you don't believe that either Sigurd or Sigmund is Balmung, then we can at least look at the father's partners."_

"I suppose so. But I'm worried of what would happen if I tried to pry into the company's history too much. There's also the possibility of this being nothing more than a red herring."

Brunhilde went quiet for a moment as she sighed. _"Well… There is one thing I want to try, but it's a little embarrassing…"_

"What would that be?" Dona asked.

" _Promise me you won't laugh? I think the girls would if I ever told them, so this is between you and me."_

"Of course I won't laugh."

After listening to her friend's suggestion, Dona blinked in surprise and asked, "You want me to see if Sigurd will go out on a date with you?"

" _Can you!? Ever since I met him last month, I've wanted to go out with him!"_

"What brought this on all of a sudden?"

" _Well, I can't get over how nice he was to me when every other guy I've met has run off in fear of me."_

"I told you that he's like that to everyone. He's even said some things to try and woo me over before. I honestly think he has a penchant for being a lady killer, so-"

" _Even if he is like that, I can at least use our date to get close to him and ask questions about this BALMUNG program his father's working on!"_

Dona didn't feel convinced about her friend's idea. But since she already warned Brunhilde about Sigurd's suave mannerisms, she felt she had done what she could to prepare her for the inevitable melodrama that would follow. Plus there was the pre-arranged marriage deal between the Nibelung and Volsung families that she couldn't forget. She asked, "How serious do you intend for your relationship with him to be? For him to suddenly regard you as a girlfriend he can entrust that level of information to would be stretching it a bit."

" _I know that! Don't worry about me. I just want to see if this lead will bring us any closer to identifying Balmung. If I need to, I can play the adultery card and break up with him that way, and he'd be none the wiser."_

"But earlier, you sounded quite enthralled with his lack of prejudice."

" _Ohh, I don't know about any of this girly nonsense!"_ Brunhilde cringed. _"I'm really confused about how to deal with this. That's why I wanted you to ask him and see if he'd go out with me! You're probably better at this stuff than I am!"_

Dona grumbled before muttering, "Your idea sounds feasible, but I refuse to act like your liaison."

" _Come on, Dona! I'm too embarrassed to ask him myself!"_

"Isn't setting up the date yourself the most fundamental aspect behind a successful relationship? I don't have a problem with helping you two meet, but you have to be the one to make the request yourself. No matter how many times you ask me, I will not agree to play the middle man for you."

" _Uuugh… Fine, I'll do it. But I still want you there as a witness!"_

"Why would I want to witness someone else's date request? Can't you handle that on your own?"

" _Err… Um, well, that's just the thing. I think I'd lose confidence if I was by myself…"_

 _I give up,_ Dona caved in and muttered, "Oh, all right. As long as I'm not involved with asking Sigurd for the date, then I'll stick around if it'll make you feel better."

" _Thanks a lot! Sigurd might not think I'm weird with me asking him out if you played cupid for me!"_

"I suppose so. So when did you want to meet with him?"

" _When…? Um, uh… Maybe next week?"_

"Let's try tomorrow after school," Dona abruptly suggested.

" _Tomorrow!? That's way too soon!"_ Brunhilde objected.

"Listen to me, Brune. Whether it's tomorrow, next week or next month, your anxiety will still be the same no matter what. Plus we need to pursue this lead right away if we're to figure out who Balmung is. The sooner we hatch this plan, the better."

"… _I know you have a point, but-"_

"Tomorrow or never. Which will it be?"

" _Oh, fine! If that's how you want it, then I'll go over there tomorrow when your classes finish!"_

"Excellent. Sigurd leaves in his father's limousine at 3:30, so you need to be here before then."

" _Right! Let's meet at the front entrance at three!"_

After they finalized their arrangement, Dona hung up and visibly sighed with annoyance. She exited the phone booth and jogged back to the school's library so she could begin her homework for the evening.

Meahwhile, another student observed her from a second floor window during the entire phone call. When Dona finished her conversation and ran back toward the school, the person ducked out of sight and took out a cell phone. They dialed some numbers, then waited for the call to be picked up.

"… It's me," the student responded. "… Yeah, she's still here. She was talking to someone at the phone booth outside the campus, even though she has a cell phone… Yeah, I know she tends to be like that… Don't worry. I'll figure out what's going on and confront her about it when the time's right... Okay, I'll speak to you later."


	13. Turnabout Wing - 3

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Flashback: Part 3**

 **November 2, 2027**

 **3:10 PM**

 **Themis Legal Academy – Front Entrance**

Dona let out a good yawn and rubbed her tired eyes. She had worked on some difficult math problems while waiting for Brunhilde. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of her strongest subjects so it took every ounce of concentration she had to finish the problems correctly. She glanced at her watch again.

 _When is she going to get here already? I told her that Sigurd leaves at 3:30. I hope she didn't get cold feet and abandoned me here._

Then she heard the familiar sound of someone running frantically toward her, and she glared at her friend in dissatisfaction.

"Let me guess; the head nun chewed you out over something stupid again?" Dona asked sourly.

"Y-You got it… Hah hah… Hah…" Brunhilde chuckled while panting. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you wait!"

"Well, whatever. We still have 20 minutes to catch Sigurd."

"Oh, boy. I can't believe I'm gonna do it."

"No backing out, remember?"

"I know! I'll show you how brave the Valkyrie can be in the face of adversity!"

 _You're just asking him out on a date. No need to act like it's Ragnarok._

The duo headed toward the parking lot, passing by the gardening club's lot to get to the other side of the campus. That was when they heard someone call out, "Where do you think you're going, Dona!?"

They stopped, and the younger student looked around to see who had yelled at her. She noticed movement in the shrubs, then a male wearing a red gakuran emerged and approached her with an angry expression. She knew exactly who this boy was, and she was utterly astounded by his presence;

"Caleb!?"

He stood over her like a scolding parent and folded his arms in disappointment as he muttered, "So _this_ is what you've been up to."

"What do you mean by that? Brune's just a friend of-"

"Don't give me that crap. I know exactly who she is."

"'Exactly' who she is? As in-?"

"The leader of the Valkyrie Wings gang."

Brunhilde stood in front of Dona and snapped, "Who are you and why do you know so much about me?"

He scoffed, "Hmph. First of all, I'm Caleb Murphy, Dona's next door neighbor and childhood friend. I'm in the same course as her sister, but I know Dona better than anyone out there. And I know for a damn fact that she wouldn't hang out with punks like you."

"Caleb, please listen," Dona implored. "There's a reason I'm-"

"I don't want to hear it. Diva's been worried because Old Man Bert said you were spending lots of time in the library lately, and yet when she goes to find you, you're nowhere to be seen. She didn't want to say anything to make him frantic, so she asked me to keep tabs on you. To think that _this_ has been going on the whole time is making me sick to my stomach."

She couldn't figure out a way to reason with her angry friend. Brunhilde did it for her by remarking, "Now look here, buster. Do you have any idea about what happened to her back in September?"

"You mean the whole deal with the construction site? Sure I do. Nothing gets past me as far as the twins are concerned."

"Then you must know that I was the one who saved her life that day, right!?"

"Huh?" Caleb raised an eyebrow. "That true, Dona?"

"… Yes, it is," she affirmed timidly.

"Geez. You always try to shoulder everything while hiding things from us, don't you? That's why you make everyone so bloody worried about you."

"I'm sorry. It's just gotten really complicated, and I didn't want to drag any of you in with me."

He sighed in annoyance, then asked reluctantly, "What the hell happened that day anyway?"

"Brune suddenly tackled me to the side, and then took after the boys who vandalized that crane-"

"It's a gang issue," Brunhilde stopped her. "He doesn't need to know."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong," Caleb snapped. "Dona's like a sister to me, and if my sibling is in trouble, I do what I can to butt in and make everything right. Now that I know she's gotten involved with street thugs, I have little choice but to keep her safe from whatever you punks are up to."

"It's the same with me! Her life is in danger from the Fafnir Crusaders, and we as Valkyrie Wings need to shut them down before they can kill her! I've been staying by her side as her protector so that-!"

"… _What?_ " he glowered with an evil glare and fanged snarl. "What the hell did you just say?"

"Geez, what's your problem? I just said that I'll protect her, so don't get in our-!"

" _ **Before that!"**_

"Urk-!" the usually tough tomboy shuddered from the sheer force emanating behind Caleb's yell. "T-That Dona's in danger from the Fafnirs…"

The male student glared daggers at Dona and demanded, "Is that true!?"

Dona murmured quietly, "I think so."

"You _think_ so!?"

"We're not really sure if it's me or my classmate Sigurd that's the target. You met him before, right?"

"You mean that pretty boy with the silver tongue? He's the son of a major electronics CEO, while you're the daughter of a deceased actress. If I were to bet my money on either of you, it'd be that flamboyant brat. I don't see any possible way these Fafnir punks could benefit from whacking you when your health is so poor, but it's a different story with a wealthy heir like him. His old man must have done something to piss them off and they're taking it out on his kid in retaliation. Or maybe he got on the wrong girl's bad side and she wants him dead to satisfy her!"

"We could throw around all the theories we want, but we're not really sure what's going on. The Fafnirs haven't made a move against either of us within the last two months."

"Of course they wouldn't," Caleb cracked his knuckles. "If they acted against both of you too frequently, it would make the police extremely suspicious. They're just waiting for everyone's heels to cool down before trying again."

"Hah! What makes you so sure of that, Mr. Know-It-All!?" Brunhilde snapped.

"Please calm down, Brune," Dona implored. "Caleb's family has strong ties to the CIA since his grandfather was the Director a long time ago. His father is also friends with the Chief of Police and-"

"Okay, okay, I get it already. He's got connections with the top cats. That still doesn't mean much to me when the authorities won't get off their fat butts and crack down on this gang before someone gets killed. Or does death and violence have to motivate them first?"

" _Now_ you're pushing it, sister," he snarled.

"Hang on, you two!" Dona begged, struggling to keep her friends from tearing each other apart. "We really don't have the time for this! Sigurd could be getting in his limo as we speak!"

"Ah!" Brunhilde gasped and dashed toward the school's parking lot. "We better catch him then!"

"Wait, what's going on here!?" Caleb shouted as he followed the others.

They hurried along the campus grounds and reached the back lot, where they spotted Sigurd talking with the driver. Dona called out, "Sigurd, wait a minute!"

"Hm?" her classmate found the trio rushing toward him. "What is with the hustle and bustle? Has an emergency come up?"

"No, nothing urgent. We wanted to catch you before you left."

"Do you need me for something?"

"Not me, specifically. Do you remember my friend Brune, from the all girls high school nearby?"

"Ah, I remember you," Sigurd greeted her. "May I presume that you have some business with me?"

Dona nodded, then stepped back and urged her friend, "Go ahead. I won't say anything else for you."

"Uh… O-Okay…" the tall girl blushed nervously, which hardly fit with her usual rough-and-tough personality. "It's been a while, Sigurd. How have you been?"

"I have been splendid, as always. Did you need to speak with me about something?"

"Yes… As a matter of fact… I was wondering if you would… um, go out… with me…"

"Go out? Could you please be more specific?"

"A-As in… go see a movie… or go bowling… or just take a walk in the park… O-Or whatever you'd like to do…"

"Hmm. Those are the kinds of activities one would associate with a first date. Is it safe for me to assume that you are asking me to go with you on such a occasion?"

"Y-Yeah, I am. I'm sorry if I'm coming off weird to you. I'm just really nervous…"

Sigurd chuckled. "Don't be so fretful. A lady should be confident with her request. The fact that you're making such a bold assertion while coping with nervousness shows me how truly courageous you are."

"Y-Y-Y-You think so?" Brunhilde covered her flushed cheeks in embarrassment.

"Of course I would be happy to go with you."

As Brunhilde and Sigurd continued their awkward conversation, Caleb's glare turned flat and unimpressed as he whispered to Dona, "The hell's going on here? First she's a take-no-crap punk, and now she's some tickled pink schoolgirl? I don't know about you, but it ain't jiving with me."

She sighed sheepishly. "She actually wanted to meet Sigurd for the last while and ask him out on a date. She only now had summoned up enough courage to talk to him, so maybe she was angrier than usual with you because you interrupted us."

"Huh. Who woulda thunk?"

"In any case, you said you were observing me for the last while, right?"

"Oh, about that! Yeah, Diva and I have been keeping Old Man Bert in the dark about your weird activities, but I never thought you'd be chillin' out with _gangsters_! I can't imagine how many heart attacks he'll have when he finds that out!"

Dona urged, "It's not like I want to be associated with the wrong crowd. It's just gotten really complicated ever since she rescued me from that construction site accident… Which, by the way, wasn't really an 'accident' per se."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Caleb demanded.

She quickly explained everything that had happened, and he took a moment to let this information soak in. He had a hard time believing that someone would want his childhood friend dead, but he also knew that she was not one to lie. She assured him that Brunhilde really was a friend of hers despite her questionable lifestyle, and that she owed her life to her.

"Hmmmmm…" he paused and scratched his unkempt red hair. "So that's what's been going on, huh?"

"I'm sorry if I made you worry. I really wanted to cooperate with Brune and help her group stop the Fafnir Crusaders, even if it was just through gathering information here."

"You could have told Diva and I about it, you know! I hate it when you hide things from us and get yourself into trouble!"

Dona became pensive as she clasped her hands. Before they could argue any further, Brunhilde and Sigurd approached them and the former exclaimed, "Good news! Sigurd agreed to go out with me! … Um. Am I interrupting anything?"

"No, don't worry about me. You two just enjoy yourselves," Dona said.

"W-Wait…"

 _Oh, what now!?_

"I was wondering if… If you could come with me…"

"To the date? Don't be ridiculous. I would just be a third wheel."

"B-But I'm kind of nervous about what to say to Sigurd, so… I thought you could help me… Y'know, be more articulate…"

 _Good grief,_ the annoyed student thought. _Brune's got her date, but she can't even begin asking about Balmung when she's so anxious. Can I really just leave things up to her?_

She glanced back at Caleb, who was busy tapping his foot impatiently. She had an idea and approached him, whispering, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Huh? Sure, but what about?"

Dona leaned in his ear and told him her idea in a hushed voice so none of the others would hear her.

"… _EH!?_ You want me to do _what_!?" the astonished boy yelped, garnering attention from everyone.

"Just this once. If you accept this favor from me, then I'll confess everything to Bertie and Diva."

"Will you, now?"

"Of course. In the end though, it's up to you. I just don't find it fair for you to snitch on me when I can just as easily tell them what I've been up to, thus sparing you any trouble."

Caleb rubbed his head, then replied, "Aw, what the hell. It's only one night, anyway. Diva shouldn't have any problem with that."

"Thanks," Dona nodded, and they approached Brunhilde and Sigurd. She told her friend, "I'll come along… With Caleb as my own date."

" _What!?_ " the tall girl screeched. "A d-d- _double date!?_ "

"What's wrong? I can come with you as you want, yet not interfere with you and Sigurd. Caleb agreed to it as well."

"Although I'm actually more interested in being her sister's boyfriend when we're older," Caleb admitted. "But if it's only once, then I won't mind going with Dona."

"Oh, that's interesting," Sigurd remarked. "So you're openly admitting that Dona is not the one you have feelings for?"

"We already talked about it before. Dona said she wasn't interested in pursuing any relationships with boys, while Diva has always been very clingy with me while growing up. The only reason I'm doing this is because it's a favor from Dona."

"How surprisingly mature you are, despite what your mercurial attitude suggests otherwise."

"Put a sock in it, pretty-boy."

"There you go," Dona said to Brunhilde. "Will that be okay with you?"

"Sure! What should we do, and when do we want to meet up?"

After a few minutes of discussion, they decided on eating at a restaurant before going to the theater to see the latest _tokusatsu_ film _Bronze Ronin: Wanderer of Ancient Olde Tokyo_ tomorrow. It would be Friday then, so they didn't have to worry about waking up early to go to classes the next morning.

"Well, now that that's settled," Caleb said and snatched Dona's wrist. "I'm bringing her home with me from now on. You don't need to be her after-school bodyguard anymore, Volsung."

"Hey, that's not fair! She needs me to keep her safe!" Brunhilde snapped. "What if those Fafnir guys try and terrorize her!? Can you fend them off yourself, pal!?"

"I got my brown belt in karate. You might be burly and intimidating, but can you take down an expert martial artist?"

"Er… I didn't know you were a fighter."

"Oh," Dona scratched her head. "I guess I never mentioned it. I could have asked him to walk me home before, but I didn't want him to know about my connection with your group."

"Too late for that, missy," Caleb said and proceeded to make her walk with him out of the campus. "We're goin' home right now and you're gonna explain everything to Diva and Old Man Bert, got it?"

"Of course. Excuse us, Brune. When he gets like this, there's no stopping him."

Brunhilde nodded and watched them leave. Sigurd chuckled and remarked, "He might get angry easily, but it shows how much he cares about her."

"Yeah. Anyway, we'll meet at my place after school tomorrow, right?"

"Yes. I will be looking forward to it."

* * *

 **November 3, 2027**

 **3:45 PM**

 **Volsung Residence**

As promised, Dona confessed everything to Adelbert and Diva about what she had been up to for the last two months. The butler was certainly not pleased to hear of her antics, but her sister was actually impressed with how bold she had become. Dona's punishment was that she was not allowed to attend any more of the Valkyrie Wings' meetings, and she had to be driven to and from school by Adelbert for the rest of the school year, or likewise walk home with Caleb if the butler couldn't drive her.

However, she was allowed to go on the double date with Caleb and the others, and was able to maintain her friendship with Brunhilde since she had trouble making friends at Themis. Diva was a little wary of Dona going out with Caleb when she wanted to be his girlfriend in the future, but Dona assured her that it would only be this one time in order to give Brunhilde the courage she needed. After some convincing, Diva finally agreed to the arrangement but demanded that she hear everything about what happened when they came home.

With those matters settled, Dona and Caleb met up after school and headed for the Volsung residence together. Dona had never actually gone to Brunhilde's house before, so she was a little unfamiliar with the neighborhood. It didn't help that it was pouring rain and incredibly windy throughout the day, so they had to wear jackets and use umbrellas to contend with the bad weather. Despite this setback, they found the place in question and knocked on the door. An unfamiliar woman in her early 50s opened the door and asked, "Can I help you?"

"I'm Brune's friend, Dona," the female student answered. "We were supposed to hang out together tonight."

"Oh, right. She mentioned that to me. To be honest, I was rather surprised that she wanted to go out with Sigurd, of all people."

 _Because of the pre-arranged marriage, I suppose._

"Come on in. I wouldn't want you standing out there in such terrible weather," the woman said, then called out, "Brunhilde! Your friends are here!"

After a few minutes, she jogged down the stairs from the second floor and exclaimed, "Sorry to keep you waiting! Sigurd hasn't come yet, though."

"He better get his butt over here soon," Caleb complained. "We need time to eat before the movie, and I'm freakin' starving."

"He just called and said he was on his way."

"You kids behave yourselves now," the woman said. "I'm going to be upstairs the whole night if anything happens."

The three friends waited in the lounge for a few minutes while the lady went upstairs to the third floor. Dona asked Brunhilde, "Was that lady your mother?"

"Yeah. She's the CEO of Volsung Apparel, Grimhilde. She actually has her atelier right next to her bedroom on the top floor, so she spends a lot of time designing clothes upstairs."

"Wasn't there an incident where your mother sued another designer for stealing her work?"

"Sort of. She's a genius when it comes to fashion, but she becomes a living nightmare when she even slightly suspects you of stealing her ideas. Whether it's true or not doesn't matter. She filed a suit against another designer a couple of years ago because of that, but it was settled out of court. Hell, I don't know how Kree puts up with Mom's psychotic episodes. It's that kind of craziness that's been costing the company a lot of money."

"Who's Kree supposed to be?" Caleb asked.

"My older sister Kriemhilde, but everyone calls her Kree. Mom's teaching her how to be a designer, but she also doesn't let her look at her designs for fear of Kree betraying her. Honestly, you can't do anything around Mom without her thinking you're some kind of spy," Brunhilde sighed in exasperation.

 _That could be the motivation behind Mrs. Volsung wanting to marry either of her daughters to Mr. Nibelung's son,_ Dona pondered. _She must be hoping to cover her financial losses by wedding one of her children to someone wealthy._

As they were chatting, the doorbell rang again and Brunhilde answered it. Sigurd was on the other side, and he gave a two-finger wave while saying, "Hey there."

"Hi…" she blushed and let him in, then said to the others, "We're ready to go."

At that moment, another girl came downstairs to grab something from the kitchen, and Sigurd suddenly turned his gaze away from her. Dona found it a little peculiar, but didn't say anything about it. The girl said to Brunhilde, "You heading out now?"

"Sure am, Kree. We won't be back 'til around eight or so. Make sure you don't make Mom mad at you, or she'll sue you into destitution."

"Don't joke around like that! You know how sensitive she is about protecting her designs!"

"Whatever."

The four teenagers went into the garage where Brunhilde's car was while the other girl, Kriemhilde, returned to her workshop on the second floor.

* * *

 **November 3, 2027**

 **4:15 PM**

 **Oriental Barbecue**

The group first headed to a _yakiniku_ restaurant and ordered plenty of beef, pork, chicken and vegetables to grill. Caleb and Sigurd took turns grilling the food for themselves and their respective partners while they chatted about various things. Whenever he wasn't busy cooking, Sigurd would be glancing at his phone and keeping tabs on something rather intently. Curious, Dona asked him, "By the way, what do you have on your phone there?"

"I'm watching the scores for tonight's basketball game. The Shakers are taking on the Movers, while the Dream-Team are going against the White-Heat. I'm betting with one of my friends to see who will win, and I picked the Shakers and the White-Heat."

"Is that so…?"

"Dude, you have no sense of taste," Caleb argued. "It's all about the Dream-Team this year, hands down."

"No way!" Sigurd argued. "The Shakers just drafted Kory Hyskore and have been making a huge comeback thanks to him! Ever since then, I've been making a ton of money with my bets!"

"So you're one of those gambler types? You wouldn't happen to be fixing the games, are you?"

"Not a chance, man! Only the super rich get to do that!"

"But you _are_ super rich."

Brunhilde watched the exchange with a smile, happy to see that her partner was so spirited. Dona didn't feel the same way. As she quietly ate her food, her friend noticed how detached she seemed to be and asked, "What's the matter? Are you not feeling well?"

"No, I'm okay. By the way, are you going to ask him?"

"Ask him what exactly?"

"About Balmung!" Dona hissed. "That was the whole point of this get-together!"

"Ack-!" Brunhilde yelped and coughed before asking Sigurd, "Hey, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for the last while."

"What is it? You wanna know my favorite sport?" he replied at the same time he chewed some beef. Dona was appalled by how slovenly he was compared to his usual behavior at school. Was he starting to show his true self when not surrounded by his usual companions?

"N-No, I can tell you like lots of sports. I just wanted to know if you heard of anyone named Balmung, or if you've ever heard the word floating around in your father's company."

"Balmung?" Sigurd pondered for a moment. "I don't think there's a player with that name. There's a Stead E. Ballast, but he plays hockey."

"No, I'm not talking about a player."

"Oh, why didn't you say so? In that case, I've never heard of anything or anyone named Balmung."

"Really? But didn't you say that your father worked on a program called BALMUNG?"

"My old man? Well… Hey, now that you mention it, he _did_ work on something like that. I know squat about it other than it was some anti-burglary system, but it used that name as its prototype acronym."

 _That's odd. Sigurd was quite adamant about describing it the other day,_ Dona thought.

"I see," Brunhilde replied. "Sorry for asking such a weird question."

"Nah, it's no big deal. I don't know what's up with you and this Balmung thing, but I wouldn't make such a fuss about it," Sigurd assured, then gasped, "Whoops! Didn't want my beef _this_ well done!"

The two girls glanced at each other apprehensively and sighed. It was probably pointless to ask about it any further for the day.

* * *

 **November 3, 2027**

 **7:40 PM**

 **Limelight Cinemas**

The four teens finished watching the movie and began to head back out to the car. The rain hadn't subsided at all, so they needed to put their jackets on before attempting to make a mad dash to the vehicle. When Brunhilde tried to put her hood on, one of her winged hair ornaments slipped out of her French braids and fell to the ground. She tried to pick it up, but accidentally bumped her forehead with Sigurd's as he was trying to grab it for her!

"Ahh!" they yelped simultaneously and rubbed their heads in pain. Caleb and Dona watched as Sigurd retrieved the hairpin and offered it to Brunhilde, saying, "Sorry about that. This looks really expensive, so I didn't want you to lose it."

"Thanks," she replied and was about to take it from him. Then she stopped and said, "On second thought, I'll let you hang on to that."

"Why?"

"Don't get me wrong – I'll be taking it back. But I'll save that for when we go out on our next date."

"So it's like some kind of promise thing?"

"Sure, why not. I was really nervous about asking you out yesterday, so I thought it might help me if I had no choice but to see you again if I wanted to get it back."

"You don't really have to. I might forget it next time."

"Then bring it the time after that."

"Oh boy… Whatever works for you."

Meanwhile, Caleb muttered in a low voice, "Almost feels like we're watching a movie of our own."

"Just leave them be," Dona shrugged. "Anything that helps boost her courage is fine with me. I certainly wouldn't want to be dragged along to every one of their outings like this."

* * *

 **November 3, 2027**

 **8:00 PM**

 **Volsung Residence**

The group returned to Brunhilde's house after watching the movie _Bronze Ronin: Wanderer of Ancient Olde Tokyo_. While the boys used the restroom, Dona asked her friend, "So do you think you can handle asking Sigurd out on future dates by yourself?"

"I should be able to, now that I'm more comfortable with him," the gangster girl nodded. "I was really surprised with his obsession over sports. I thought he was more into 'feminine' things, but he probably keeps his real interests under wraps while out in the public. Maybe his dad forces him to maintain a proper image with his peers, but I'm glad he was able to relax and enjoy himself with us."

"I guess so," Dona murmured. She couldn't argue with that logic since she only knew her classmate for two months. Who knew what went on when they weren't at Themis?

Caleb and Sigurd returned just as Kriemhilde returned downstairs to greet her sister. She said, "Hey, Brune. How was the movie?"

"It was great! It was produced by the same guy who made the Steel Samurai and Pink Princess series, so I was expecting this one to be just as action-packed!" Brunhilde replied. "Were you working on your newest Lordly Tailor design?"

"Yeah, but it's proving to be a really difficult request. I tried calling Mom on the internal line, but she hasn't been answering for the last few hours."

Caleb asked, "You guys have an internal phone line?"

"Remember what we said about Mom being overprotective of her work? She had a line installed that connects from her bedroom and atelier to my room and workshop, Brune's room, and the kitchen. If we need to talk with her about anything, we have to call her using those phones before she will leave her atelier."

"Seriously…?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but that's just how it is here. We've learned to get used to it by now."

"So you haven't been able to reach Mom?" Brunhilde wondered.

"No. It's really strange," Kriemhilde raised an eyebrow. "Lordly Tailor originally asked her to work on the project, but she allowed me to handle it while she was busy preparing for next week's runway show. I wanted to ask for her help about something, but she's not answering her line."

Dona, Brunhilde, Caleb and Sigurd glanced at each other worriedly.

"I waited for you to come back so we could ask Mom what's going on together," the older sibling continued, her voice taking on a hint of concern.

"You think something's happened to her?" her sister asked.

"I really don't know. I thought I would be safer with you before trying to enter her room."

Dona asked Kriemhilde, "How long have you been trying to reach your mother?"

"Ever since around 5:30."

"So she's been silent for two and a half hours?"

Brunhilde frowned hard. It wasn't like Grimhilde to ignore her daughters for so long. She replied with determination, "Okay. All of us should go together, just in case something bad has happened. Safety in numbers, right?"

The Volsung sisters led the way upstairs to the third floor, and Kriemhilde pointed out to the others, "That right room is Mom's studio. It's so large that it almost takes up the entire floor. She spends so much time in there that it even has a small fridge and washroom."

Dona took a quick peek inside the open room, which had several long tables and shelves covered with countless colors and types of fabrics. Various drawings and photographs were pinned to some billboards on the walls, and many tools of the trade were scattered about in the large workshop. She couldn't find anyone inside, so she pointed to the door on the left and asked, "Is this her bedroom?"

"Yeah," Brunhilde replied and knocked hard on the door. "Mom! Hey, Mom! What's going on!? Kree's been trying to reach you!"

There was no answer.

"Kree, get the key."

"But Mom won't-!"

"Screw that! She's locked herself in here!"

Kriemhilde ran into the studio and found the key to the deadbolt. She unlocked it and tried to open the door, but suddenly stopped short when she realized that a chain lock had been set from the inside.

"What the-!?"

"Hey, this isn't funny, Mom!" Brunhilde shouted angrily. "Open up already!"

"Hm?" Dona blinked curiously when she noticed someone lying absolutely still on the bed from her perspective. To the sisters' surprise, she pushed them aside and leaned in to peek through the small crack in the door. The dim ceiling light gave her enough light to see that it was Grimhilde. But then something else caught her eye that made her forget to breathe momentarily. Her widened eyes told the others that something was horribly wrong.


	14. Turnabout Wing - 4

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Investigation: Part 1**

 **November 3, 2027**

 **8:10 PM**

 **Volsung Residence**

Dona's uncharacteristically shocked gaze alarmed the others. Caleb asked her, "What's in there?"

"… Brune, Kree, call the police," she ordered.

"Huh?" the girls uttered.

"Just go! This is a crime scene!"

Kriemhilde and Brunhilde gasped and hurried downstairs to find the nearest phone. Sigurd and Caleb remained upstairs with Dona as she put her gloves on and took another look at the bedroom through the small crack in the door. She admitted, "I'll have to give the police my fingerprints so they can isolate them from the criminal's."

"Hey, what the hell's going on here!?" Caleb demanded. "Quit leaving the rest of us in suspense here!"

"I didn't want to say it while Kree and Brune were around, but… Mrs. Volsung has been murdered."

"Wha-!?" Sigurd yelped. "What are you talking about!? How can you be so sure she's been killed!?"

"Just trust me on this one."

"Oh, no way…"

"Let me see!" Caleb yelled, but Dona blocked his path.

"No! We have to preserve the scene as much as we can! You two should go downstairs and keep Kree and Brune occupied until the police come. I'll stay here so no one else can tamper with anything."

"Okay, but be careful!"

The two male students hurried downstairs to rejoin with the confused sisters while Dona remained standing in front of Grimhilde's bedroom door. A flurry of thoughts overwhelmed her as she tried to make sense of what she could see through that crack in the door. She remembered the clean bed covers and pillows starkly contrasting the ghastly crimson fluid that had sprayed out from behind the dead woman's head. The disgusting mess made her think of one of those Rorschach ink blot tests minus the clean symmetry that would inspire psychological perceptions.

She recreated a basic version of the scene in her head using the compass directions, the position of the bed and window, how the body laid upon the bed, and the direction the blood spatter had to emanate from.

 _So if I understand this correctly, Mrs. Volsung's bedroom window faces west, and my current position is south. The bed is directly north of the door, so I was able to see the body. I couldn't tell what was on the east side, but I know it's next to her personal atelier and does not connect via a door or passageway. Her body is lying supine on the east side of the bed, with the head facing west. There was a large gunshot wound to the front of her head, which had to exit the back of the head in order to create the splatter on the bed covers. The shot had to come from the east in order for the blood to fly westward and hit the bed, followed by the body. The murder weapon had to be some kind of gun that could create so much splatter within such a small space. A shotgun could do it, or even a musket. I'll have to ask Brune if they keep any guns in the house. If not, then the culprit had to bring one with them._

Tempting as it was for her to take another look to see if the murder weapon was present, she resisted the urge to satisfy her detective's logic at the risk of further tarnishing the crime scene. Dona adjusted her glasses and stared at the door where the chain lock was latched on the other side.

 _That chain will be the biggest problem. It can't be set from the outside, and the door was bolted shut prior to Kree unlocking it. It means that even though the bolt is set, Mrs. Volsung also used the chain lock as extra insurance. The culprit obviously didn't shoot out the lock to force his way in from the hall, and the chain doesn't have any visible sign of tampering. There is the possibility of the victim granting the culprit access, but a shotgun is far too conspicuous to carry around when meeting someone. There's no way someone as cautious as Mrs. Volsung would let someone so dangerous in her bedroom._

 _If the culprit tried to enter from outside, they would have to climb up to the third floor to commit the act, and that's even if the window is not locked. Furthermore, they would have to get back down in order to leave the chain and door locks undisturbed. It's been raining all day today, so there would be muddy footprints and signs of wet clothes left behind. There's also the issue of having to set the window lock to make this a closed room murder._

 _Sniping the victim from outside is out of the question. The blood spatter suggests that the culprit was inside on the east side of the room when he did the deed. If a sniper tried to kill her from outside, it would have to be from the west window. Without changing the position of the body, the blood would fly eastward onto the wall rather than westward onto the bed, plus the bullet would enter the back of the head and exit out the front. I'm no expert on how dead bodies fall after sudden death, but there's the chance that Mrs. Volsung would have collapsed differently if she had been sniped from outside._

 _It's too early for me to draw this conclusion, but as it stands right now, this is turning out to be an impossible crime…_

Dona felt her skin go chilly from mulling over this grisly mystery, rather than the temperature freezing her flesh. She wanted the police to arrive as soon as possible so she could finally sit down and relax. Guarding this room was making her feel uneasy, especially with the thought that the killer could still be lurking around. Yet she wanted to protect the integrity of the crime scene as best she could, so she took several deep breaths to steady her nerves.

Eventually, she heard a series of footsteps rushing upstairs. Caleb, Sigurd and Brunhilde returned with a small team of officers led by a serious woman in her early 50s. Her attire was reminiscent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police except the coat was colored a deep cranberry hue. Otherwise, she wore a traditional brown sergeant's hat with an emblem shaped like the berry, black pants and brown boots, and carried a riding crop like a professional equestrian would.

"I've been informed of you being up here," the woman declared. "Stand aside now. We'll take over from here."

"Yes, ma'am," Dona nodded and joined with Caleb. One of the officers had brought a pair of large cutters to snip through the chain with ease, and the officers carefully stepped inside the room with guns drawn. After a few tense minutes of the men investigating the scene for anyone hidden inside, one man exclaimed, "All clear, detective! The forensics team can enter!"

"Good," the woman replied, then gestured with a quick glare for the forensics officers to begin their search. She addressed the teenagers with, "My men will inspect the crime scene. In the meantime, I will take your statements downstairs."

They followed her back down to the living room, and they gathered around Kriemhilde who was sobbing on the couch in bewildered shock. She probably was either told or figured out that Grimhilde was dead, and Brunhilde hugged her sister to help her stay calm during the interrogation. The detective remained cool and professional as she deftly swiped out her handbook and pen to jot down notes.

"First of all, I am Detective Heather Fenberry of the Los Angles Police Department's criminal affairs sector," she introduced herself. "A dispatcher received a call from someone named Brunhilde Volsung informing us that her mother had locked herself in her room, and that one of her friends urged to call police after peering inside."

"I'm Brunhilde," the gangster girl raised her hand. "It was Dona who told me to call 9-1-1 while she stayed upstairs."

"So you're the Dona DiPrima mentioned in the phone call," Heather glanced at the younger girl.

"Yes, ma'am. Of all of us, I'm the only one who looked into the room and witnessed the state of the body, which prompted the call. I am willing to submit my fingerprints for the investigation since you'll find them on the door and knob."

"Hmm. Tell me what you saw."

"I would like to discuss those details without either of the victim's daughters in the room."

"Fine. Come with me and we'll discuss it in private."

Dona followed Heather to a spare room that they could lock from the inside so none of the other teens could listen in on them. She explained everything she witnessed and shared her deductions with the detective.

"An impossible crime, you say? I don't believe in such rubbish," Heather muttered. "Humans are only capable of so much, and accomplishing the impossible is not one of them."

"You don't need to put so much stock in me saying that. It's only an educated guess based upon limited information. I'm sure your officers will be able to fill in the rest, but I strongly believe the murderer was in the east side of the bedroom when he killed Mrs. Volsung," Dona said. "Furthermore, I believe the murder weapon was a shotgun. I don't know if the Volsungs keep any guns in the house, but it would be far too difficult for the killer to bring such a bulky weapon with them if they were planning on meeting the victim."

"So you're suggesting that the victim kept some guns in her room that the killer could use. It's entirely plausible, but I need to have her daughters confirm that."

They left the spare room and joined up with the others, who were waiting for them anxiously. Heather said to the Volsung daughters, "I need to ask something of you two. Did your mother ever keep any guns in the house?"

Kriemhilde and Brunhilde glanced at each other curiously. The older sibling replied, "No, I highly doubt that. Mom was incredibly protective of her designs, but she also hated firearms. She has some security measures installed in her room, but they're only sensors that would alert the security company if someone other than her entered the room. Brune was forbidden from coming inside, but since I will be inheriting Volsung Apparel from her, Mom allowed me to enter as long as she added me as a temporary guest to the security system."

"So if we assume that a killer wanted to enter the bedroom with a gun and kill your mother, they would trip the sensors without realizing it."

"That's right. But the sensors haven't been triggered whatsoever."

"What makes you so certain of that?"

"If they had been, the security company would call and tell us to get out of the house immediately. I've been home all night working on my latest design, and I never received any phone calls."

"So the culprit managed to kill your mother while evading invisible sensors, then set the chain lock, bolted the door shut, and left without you noticing."

"I… suppose so…" Kriemhilde uttered, having to agree with how ridiculous the scenario was.

"I think you understand where I'm coming from when I say this," Heather said with an ominous tone, "but as things stand, you're the only one without a solid alibi for the entire night. Your sister Brunhilde was with Sigurd Nibelung on a double date with Dona DiPrima and Caleb Murphy. They went to see a movie, and all of them still have their stubs as proof. If I call the movie theater and view security footage, they should also be seen together on surveillance at the time of the murder.

"On the other hand, you say that you were alone the whole night working on a project in your atelier on the second floor. Furthermore, you say that your mother allowed you access to her bedroom when even your sister is restricted. Then you say that no one ever called you during the night, so we have no one who can corroborate your story."

"I understand what you're saying, but I didn't kill my mother!" Kriemhilde objected.

"There has to be some kind of mistake!" Brunhilde added. "Kree wouldn't have any reason to kill Mom! She hates guns as much as Mom did!"

Heather visibly sighed. "Well, it's still early in the investigation. I just want you to be aware that you may be called in as a potential suspect, Ms. Volsung."

"This can't be happening…" Kriemhilde shuddered and grabbed her arms in fear.

"Hey, don't just be looking at Kree!" Brunhilde yelled, smacking her fist on the table. "Mom had plenty of business rivals who were trying to steal her designs! Why else do you think she was so paranoid about protecting her ideas!?"

"Brune, please calm down!" Dona implored. She and Caleb made her sit back and take a few deep breaths to keep her from losing her temper before the detective.

Unfazed, Heather jotted some notes in her book while saying, "I'll have to perform a background check and verify where these business rivals were at the time of the killing. I trust that you will cooperate with me in this matter, Kriemhilde."

"Of course I will!" the designer agreed. "I'm sure someone ordered a hit on Mom and is trying to make me the scapegoat!"

"It's too early to say that. After I hear from my officers about the crime scene, I will have to bring you to the station to assist me in making some phone calls."

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," Sigurd timidly raised his hand. "But are the rest of us allowed to leave yet?"

"I need to talk with the coroner and see what the time of death was," Heather replied. "If it's shown that all four of you were at the theater at the same time, then I would have no reason to detain you any further. I'll try to find that out as soon as I can, so just wait here. If you need to move around, have one of my officers accompany you."

The teens agreed and remained in the living room while she returned upstairs. Caleb sat back with his arms behind his head and sighed, "Man, what a rough night this has turned out to be."

Dona was quiet for a few minutes as she thought about something. She then said to Sigurd, "Say, you're familiar with security programs and firewalls, aren't you? Do you think Mrs. Volsung contracted your father's company to secure her bedroom with those sensors?"

"I have no idea," he replied flatly and looked away.

 _Hmm… He must be too shaken up to answer with his usual intelligent babbling._

She asked Kriemhilde, "Do you know which company your mother hired to install the system?"

"I don't know," she shook her head. "Although I was allowed in her room on occasion, she never told me anything about the nature of the system. She was afraid of me selling her proprietary secrets to a rival company, even though she mentored me in her way of designing clothes. The paranoia must have clouded her sense of judgment over the years."

"Sounds like those barbecue masters who hide their secret spice blends under lock and key," Sigurd remarked. "Or even that Jack Daniels guy who died from stubbing his toe on his own safe."

"Fashion ain't my kind of thing, but I guess even designers have secrets they don't want others to profit of," Caleb muttered.

As they were talking, they heard Heather return downstairs with some papers in her hand. She said to the group, "I just spoke with the medical examiner, and he said that the victim died about four hours ago at around 5:00 PM. Your ticket stubs say that your movie started at 5:15, and this place is about 20 minutes away from the theater. I'll have to examine the theater's security footage to be sure, but it means that you four are allowed to leave."

"All right!" Sigurd exclaimed. "I wanted to watch the game, but everyone was telling me not to turn the TV on while we were stuck here."

"Hey, hey, isn't that supposed to be common sense for us lawyers in training?" Caleb grumbled.

"Whatever. Now that the cops are letting us go, I wanna go home and see how my team is doing."

Dona said to Brunhilde, "The police will probably be busy searching the house tonight. Do you have anywhere else you can stay?"

"Don't worry about me. I can crash with one of the girls tonight since her folks are out of town."

Once Heather collected their phone numbers, the four teens left the house and split up for the evening. Caleb and Dona waited at the corner for a taxi to arrive, and he noticed how apprehensive his partner looked beneath her umbrella.

"Who'd have thought we'd stumble upon a murder scene like _that_?" he remarked. "You must be totally worn out from seeing that dead woman. If you have any nightmares, you can talk to me about them."

"No, I'm okay with that. There's just… something that's been bothering me."

"Something wrong about the crime scene?"

"No, it's not the crime. I don't know why, but I've been having this eerie feeling ever since dinner."

"Huh? You mean something was strange about the double date?"

Dona shook her head. "Maybe it's just my imagination."

"Could be. You've been reading so many of those gory mystery novels that you're having weird ideas about absolutely nothing," Caleb smirked. "Are you gonna tell Old Man Bert about what happened?"

"I don't have a choice. Mrs. Volsung's death will be in the paper tomorrow, and he knows that I'm friends with one of her daughters, no thanks to you."

"Awww, no need to be so bitter about it!" he joked while wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "If you want, I can pitch in my two cents so he doesn't get too angry with you!"

Dona huffed grumpily. The cab rolled around the corner and they got in to return home. Although Caleb had dismissed her unusual concerns, she couldn't ignore them as easily. He was right about her being tired though. She figured that she would first get some much-needed sleep, and then call Brunhilde in the morning for any updates before musing over this odd conundrum.

* * *

 **November 4, 2027**

 **9:30 AM**

 **DiPrima Residence**

Dona woke up to a sunny Saturday morning, which greatly contrasted the horrible weather from yesterday. She changed out of her nightgown and met up with Adelbert and Diva downstairs to have breakfast. The butler had the newspaper unfolded next to his bowl of oatmeal and, as she had predicted, it was open to the segment about Grimhilde Volsung's murder case.

The older man gave her an inquisitive stare as he said, "Good morning, Dona. How was your _soirée_ with Caleb yesterday?"

She sat next to her sister and groaned, "It could have gone better, as you can tell by that headline…"

"That woman is your friend's mom, right?" Diva asked. "What the heck happened anyway? Bertie got a call from some detective saying that you had to be held for questioning until your alibi was established. Were they treating you as a suspect?"

"No. I had actually seen the body first, so they needed my eyewitness account."

She explained everything that had occurred the previous night while eating her breakfast. Diva tapped her finger on her arm curiously and said, "Wow. So the police are dealing with a closed room murder. Hope the investigation doesn't run into a standstill and become cold."

"Detective Fenberry was looking at Brune's sister as a suspect, but there's also the potential for a business rival to have committed the crime. But even if they find any suspects, the problem will be proving how they did it. If it wasn't for the chain lock, the tight security system, and the fact that the crime scene is on the third floor, things would be going a lot more smoothly for the police."

"Well whatever the case, I'm happy as long as you're not the culprit."

"Indeed," Adelbert agreed. "I believe it would be best if you no longer involved yourself with this case. Witnessing such a gruesome scene must have been very troubling for you."

Dona shifted her eyes away from them as she muttered, "I don't know… I think my emotions went numb while I was looking in there. I couldn't think about anything except keeping Brune and Kree away from the scene."

"Were you not afraid of the culprit still being there?"

"I… actually hadn't thought of that. I guess it's because they went through so much trouble to create a closed room murder that I highly doubted they would still be lurking. After all, I've never heard of a closed room where the killer locks himself inside."

"What about outside the room? Did you not consider any form of danger to yourself or your friends whatsoever?"

"Kree was home the entire night, and she said she never heard anyone moving around in the house. I assumed that no one else was around besides her and Mrs. Volsung."

"Young lady…" Adelbert glared at Dona and sighed out of stress. "You need to have a greater appreciation of the danger you can place yourself in. It's fine that you wish to seek answers to these mysteries, but please don't investigate at your own peril."

"I'm sorry, Bertie. I'll do my best to be more careful from now on."

Diva frowned in concern for her sister. She also shared the same worries as him, but she didn't want to lecture Dona redundantly and possibly make her feel put on the spot. Just then, the telephone rang and the butler answered it.

"DiPrima residence, Adelbert speaking. How may I help you? … Yes, she's awake… Just a moment, please."

He handed the receiver to Dona and whispered, "It's Miss Brunhilde. She said that something urgent has come up."

 _I don't like the sound of that,_ she thought while saying, "Hi, Brune. What's going on?"

" _Thank God, Dona! It's Kree! They've arrested her as the prime suspect in Mom's murder!"_

"They have? But wasn't Detective Fenberry looking into your mother's business rivals as other suspects?"

" _Kree helped her call them, but all of their alibis are solid! They think that she's the only one who could have done this because she was home the whole night!"_

"That's not promising," Dona murmured. "Is she still protesting her innocence?"

" _Yeah. That's why I'm calling you. I was wondering if you knew of any good attorneys in the city that she could hire."_

"Hmm… There's one I can think of off the top of my head, but I can't guarantee that he'll take her case. I can also look into the Bar Association's directory and try talking to some lawyers. But it would be helpful if you came with me to meet these people, since it's your sister that they'll be representing."

" _Of course! So do you want me to pick you up?"_

"That sounds fine. Do you remember my address?"

" _Yeah, I do. I'm at the detention center with Kree, so I'll be over there in ten minutes."_

"Okay. Remember; don't panic. It's still early in the investigation, and the attorney needs time to learn the details in order to build his case. I'll do what I can to help, but my ability to assist with the investigation is extremely limited because I'm just a student," Dona said.

She hung and explained what happened with the curious Adelbert and Diva. The butler stroked his chin and murmured, "Is it really necessary for you to run around the city on an errand that doesn't involve you? Kriemhilde always has the option of allowing the state to appoint an attorney for her."

"Brune may look tough and imposing, but she tends to get flustered easily. She desperately wants to find a good lawyer for Kree, but when she's shaken up like that, she might choose the wrong words to say. She's afraid it might sound off-putting to the attorneys, so she wanted me to discuss the details along with her. I have no problem assisting with her search. Besides, it's nowhere near as dangerous as finding a dead body at a crime scene."

"I agree with you there, but… Well, you're old enough to make your own decisions," Adelbert finally relented, recalling that the twins just turned 13 a couple of weeks ago. He couldn't keep babying them forever. "I don't see much issue with helping her find a good attorney. Your personal knowledge of the crime scene might also be beneficial for the lawyer to begin basing their case."

"Thank you, Bertie. I promise that if anything else comes up, I'll give you a call right away."

"Oh hoh hoh hoh!" Diva laughed haughtily. "Now you've gotten _me_ interested! I'd love to see how the prosecution will explain how Kree pulled off a closed room murder! Did Brune say who the prosecutor was going to be?"

"No, she didn't. I'm sure one has been appointed by now though," Dona said.

"Then I'm gonna go to the PO and check it out!"

"Oh, not you too, Diva!" the flustered butler rubbed his forehead. "What possible reason could _you_ have for going to the Prosecutor's Office!?"

"Don't forget that we have our 40 hours of community service to finish before we can graduate! I can always use that to see if I can provide any assistance for the prosecutor, even if it's just grabbing lunch for him!"

"I cannot believe you are genuinely serious about this…"

"No complaining! I will not spend those hours picking up other people's garbage on the streets! If the courtroom is going to be my stage in the future, then I need to know how the backstage works just as much! I want you to drive me to the PO and help me convince the prosecutor to let me in on the case so I can do some of my hours!"

Adelbert sighed. Unlike the calm and reasonable Dona that he could lecture, Diva would get so fired up that there would be no room for him to debate with her. Yet at the same time, he could understand why the twins were so enthusiastic to participate in the legal world despite their young age. He muttered with a bow, "Understood."


	15. Turnabout Wing - 5

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Investigation: Part 2**

 **November 4, 2027**

 **10:15 AM**

 **Wright Anything Agency**

At 9:45, Brunhilde picked Dona up in her car and together they began driving around the city. Dona had brought along a book issued annually by the Bar Association that had the list of phone numbers she could try calling. She kept that and her evidence from the Valkyrie Wings in the back seat though because she wanted to go to the first place she had in mind.

After she explained what the office's name was, Brunhilde crinkled her face in bewilderment as she wondered, "Wright Anything Agency? That's a weird name for a law office. Shouldn't it be Wright & Co. Law Office or something generic like that?"

"From what I understand, it used to be called Fey & Co. Law Office before Mr. Wright inherited the building and changed it to his name. Then when he was disbarred back in 2019, he changed the name again and promoted the office as a sort of odd-job place. He has his badge back now, and he even offered a defense attorney seminar to Hugh O'Connor if he won this year's mock trial at the annual school fair."

"Didn't a murder occur during that whole thing at your school?"

"Yes, there was. Fortunately, one of Mr. Wright's associates took care of that case. I was even in the gallery with Diva to watch it unfold. His office should be open for business today, so I thought about us going there first."

"I hope he'll accept Kree's case. The sooner we find someone, the sooner they can investigate."

"Just relax. Even if we have to spend the entire day searching, she's still entitled to a fair and speedy trial. The court will have to give the attorney time to study the case and formulate his argument."

"I guess so…"

Brunhilde found the agency and parked in the lot nearby. They went inside the office building and found the room in question. Dona knocked on the door a few times. At first no one answered, but then the door was opened by a man with slicked black hair wearing a blue suit.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Good day, Mr. Wright," Dona greeted him. The girls had agreed to let her do the talking until they became acquainted enough for Brunhilde to talk. "We're here today because my friend is looking for an attorney to represent her sister. I had recommended you to her because I heard of you at Themis Legal Academy, so we're seeing if you were interested in taking the case."

"Hmm…" Phoenix pondered curiously at how placid and professional this young teenager was. To him, it almost felt like Dona was acting as Brunhilde's lawyer. "Come on in and we can talk about it."

He let them sit on the sofa, and he fiddled with some other papers before sitting on a chair near them. He asked, "So what seems to be the problem?"

Dona explained the basics of the case, and Brunhilde fidgeted nervously the whole while.

"A closed room murder? And her sister is the accused?" Phoenix murmured.

"The police have ruled out other suspects due to their alibis," Dona said. "Admittedly, they don't have any definitive evidence linking Kree to the crime other than the fact that she was home the whole night. Brune couldn't have done it because she was with me and two other friends at the theater."

"At least that's a point in our favor."

"By 'our favor', does that imply that you'll defend Kree?"

"Well I don't really understand the details since you're being intentionally vague about this 'closed room murder'. The papers didn't say anything about that, so I'm guessing the police are keeping that information concealed from the media."

"I'm only being vague because it would be a waste of our time to explain everything only for you to reject us," Dona firmly stated. "If you wish not to take the case on, we will look elsewhere."

Phoenix could relate with her stance. Only by agreeing to defend Kriemhilde would he be privy to details that only the killer, the first people at the scene, and the police would know. He also couldn't help but notice how nervous the tough-looking gangster girl was during the conversation. She clearly was worried for her sister, and she had to cope with losing her mother at the same time. Whenever he saw anyone in such a distressed state, he would have déjà vu of the first time he met his first assistant, Maya Fey. Those worn out, sad eyes were being replicated with Brunhilde…

After a long pause, he finally said, "I understand. I'll take Kriemhilde's case on."

"You will!?" Brunhilde's sad eyes suddenly lit up with hope. "Thank you so much, Mr. Wright! Oh, I can't believe this! I thought we would have to run all around the city looking for someone to help us!"

"I'll need to get a letter of request from your sister first before I can go to the crime scene. She's at the detention center, right?"

"Yes, sir," Dona nodded. "But before we go, there is one request I would like to make of you, Mr. Wright."

"What would that be?"

"Is it possible for me to volunteer to be your assistant during your investigation?"

" _You_ want to be my assistant? I'm sorry, but I don't allow-"

"Please let me explain," she interjected, and she told him about her status as a student at Themis and how she was required to perform volunteer duties in order to graduate. She reasoned that she could obtain valuable experience from joining Phoenix as his assistant and get some of her hours done at the same time. Dona also added that since she was the only one of the five teens who actually saw the body, she could share her personal deductions with him so he could strengthen his case.

"Hmm…" the attorney pondered. "If I let you come with me to the crime scene, will you promise not to interfere with the police's investigation?"

"Absolutely. I even took extra measures to preserve the scene last night, and I had never entered the room. I cooperated with Detective Fenberry by submitting my fingerprints, so I fully understand the importance of protecting the integrity of a crime scene. Even if you just want me to stand outside and write notes for you, I am willing to do that."

"I don't know how well the police will react to me bringing a young student to the investigation, though."

"I'm already acquainted with the detective, so she should recognize me. But if she decides not to allow me entry, then I will go home for the day."

"Fair enough. My junior lawyers are out on other cases, so I'm kind of shorthanded here," Phoenix said.

"I really appreciate it, Mr. Wright. I just need to call my guardian to let him know what's going on."

As the lawyer prepared some documents, Dona called Adelbert and updated him on the situation. He likewise told her that the Prosecutor's Office agreed to let Diva do some of her hours with the assigned prosecutor. Once the trio was ready, they headed over to the detention center.

* * *

 **November 4, 2027**

 **11:00 AM**

 **Detention Center**

Kriemhilde listened as her sister explained how Phoenix agreed to take her case, which made her feel greatly relieved.

"I'm so glad you've agreed to defend me, sir," she sighed happily. "I told Brune not to run around in such a frenzy for me, but she can't sit still when she's worried about someone."

"Hey, I understand," Phoenix grinned. "To be honest, I'm really curious about how the culprit could have committed murder in a closed room. It's like something straight out of a mystery novel. Do you have any ideas?"

"The prosecutor asked me the same thing, but I couldn't offer him anything. Mom didn't allow either myself or Brune to enter her room, so I don't know how it could be possible."

"But now that the police are able to freely investigate, they should have given you some sort of diagram detailing what's inside, right?" Dona asked.

"I asked the prosecutor the same thing, and he said he would have someone make a blueprint of the bedroom for me to look at."

"There's the chance he could be doing that to incriminate you though," Phoenix frowned. "Only your mother and the killer would know what's really inside the room. If you start pointing out things that you were denying before, you're going to be treated even more as a suspect."

"I suppose that's true…" Kriemhilde murmured. "I've mentioned that Mom would allow me inside as long as she disabled the security system, so I can rely on that."

"But your knowledge of the bedroom is still limited, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Maybe it might not be such a good idea to point things out to the prosecution regarding that room…"

"Tell you what. Dona and I will try to make a blueprint of our own to give to you. Then you and the prosecutor can use that to compare notes."

"Absolutely. I'll keep my lips sealed until you return, Mr. Wright."

Meanwhile, Brunhilde pulled Dona to the back corner and asked her, "Now that we've found Kree's lawyer, what else is there for me to do?"

"I'm afraid there isn't anything else you can do. You've been cleared of suspicion, but since you're only a civilian, you can't participate any further in the investigation."

"But as her sister, I should-!"

"No," Dona firmly stopped her. "If you want your sister to be properly defended, everyone has to look at the crime objectively. Because you're the victim's daughter and the defendant's sister, your perspective has become highly subjective, which could risk contaminating the investigation. You should go back to your friend's place and let Mr. Wright and I represent both of you."

"I-If that's how it works…" Brunhilde shuddered. "But please keep me updated on the investigation! I'll go stir crazy if I don't hear anything!"

"I won't be allowed to give you any details due to confidentiality, but I can at least say where we're at as far as Kree's case is concerned. Whether or not it's good or bad will depend upon what we find."

"That's fine! Anything will do!"

"Then you should head back by yourself. I promise that, just like how you protected me during that accident, I'll do everything in my power to help Mr. Wright defend your sister."

"Thanks, Dona," Brunhilde murmured, removing one of her winged hair ornaments to give to her friend just as she did with Sigurd during the date. "This is supposed to be a symbol of bravery and good luck. I'll let you hang on to it for your investigation, but make sure to bring it back to me later."

"All right."

* * *

 **November 4, 2027**

 **11:30 AM**

 **Volsung Residence**

Brunhilde went back to her friend's house in her car, while Dona went with Phoenix to the crime scene in his.

"So this is the place, huh?" he asked.

"It's hard to imagine that everything happened just last night. It already feels like a distant memory to me," she murmured.

They approached the officers guarding the perimeter, and the lawyer showed them Kriemhilde's letter of request. They were dubious about Dona's presence however, so one of the men went inside to talk to Heather. After a few minutes, he returned with the detective and she said, "Hello again, Ms. DiPrima."

"Good afternoon, Detective Fenberry," Dona greeted her. "I was wondering if I could work alongside Mr. Wright as his assistant for his investigation."

"Couldn't resist taking another look at the crime scene, huh?"

"It's not that I have any sort of morbid curiosity, ma'am. It's just that I want to help defend Brune's sister in any way I can. I know I can't do much since I'm only a high school student, but I can at least write notes so Mr. Wright can focus on finding evidence. If you find me an encumbrance however, then I'll leave."

Heather thought about the girl's proposal for a moment, then said, "You're studying to be a defense attorney, right?"

"That's correct. Inevitably, these sorts of investigations will become part of my job. I figured that observing an actual crime scene would benefit me in the long run. Furthermore, I owe a great deal to Brune for saving my life a couple of months ago, so I feel compelled to return the favor by helping Mr. Wright defend Kree."

"Don't worry, Detective," Phoenix assured. "I'll have her stand behind me at all times so she doesn't interfere with the search."

The detective finally relented with, "Fine, you've sold me. I demand that you be on your best behavior though. Any trouble you cause will wind up reflecting badly on me."

"I understand," Dona bowed. She followed Heather and Phoenix inside the Volsung residence and went up to the third floor bedroom with them. A couple of forensics officers were inside continuing their search, and Dona was able to get a much better look at the room. It was about 20 ft. x 20 ft. in size, with the bed, night table and closet on the north side and the door on the south. To the west was a window overlooking the backyard and streets below. The eastern wall had a large combination safe near the bed, a small picture in a frame, and a dresser.

Just as she witnessed last night, the white bed sheets and blanket were covered in blood that splattered westward, meaning the shooter had to be standing on the east side of the room. What she couldn't have seen then but could now was a distinct indentation embedded in the wall next to the window.

"Is that where the bullet landed?" Phoenix asked Heather.

"Yeah. It's been removed and analyzed, and it turned out to be a .308 caliber bullet consistent with the Winchester rifle," the detective explained. "Of course, I have a hard time believing that the victim would allow someone carrying such a large weapon to enter her room given her paranoid personality."

 _Exactly as I deduced last night,_ Dona thought.

"Were there any guns found throughout the house?"

"No, and the victim didn't own a gun permit. The prosecution should know about that as well. It backs up what Kriemhilde stated, but there's also the fact that if she was the killer, she had plenty of time to dispose of the weapon before her sister returned from the theater."

"Are there any sort of miniature rifles that can chamber such a bullet?" Phoenix wondered. "I have to agree that bringing a hunting rifle to a murder would be rather conspicuous, but what if there was a smaller gun that the killer could have hidden on themselves prior to entering the room?"

"I've considered any kind of short-barreled rifle such as the PAP M92 or the CMMG Mk3, but they're still difficult to conceal on one's person for this kind of murder. It would have been more sensible for the killer to bring a pistol or a revolver," Heather said. "The caliber of the bullet doesn't match with a handgun however, so we're forced to consider the murder weapon to be a rifle, however implausible it may be."

"Even with confirming what the weapon is, another problem arises with where the killer was when he shot Mrs. Volsung," Dona said.

"That's been quite the headache for me. There's no question that they stood in front of the eastern wall during the crime. No gunpowder residue was found on the victim's body, but there was some on the floor several feet away from the bed. It means that Grimhilde was shot in the forehead from a few feet away, then the bullet exited out the back of her head and lodged itself in the opposite wall. The blood spatter is consistent with this scenario as well."

"You'd think the culprit would have tried to collect the bullet before leaving."

"It was stuck in the wall rather deep, so maybe they thought it wasn't worth the time and risk and left it the way it was. We couldn't find the cartridge, so we figure they at least took that with them. Even so, there's still the problem of the locked chain on the door."

Phoenix and Dona glanced at the many types of locks on the bedroom door, most particularly the chain. Although it had been severed by the police the previous night, there was no doubt to Dona that it was set when she and the other teens found the crime scene. Phoenix asked the detective, "Were there any sort of tricks involved with this chain?"

"I've heard of string and tape tricks, but there was absolutely nothing. We even examined it for fingerprints and only found the victim's."

"That means she set it from the inside after letting the culprit in. But then how did the killer leave?"

"That's the million dollar question of the day, Mr. Wright."

"They didn't leave through the window, did they?"

"Not a chance. Forensically speaking, it's as clean as a whistle. Even if they tried to, it was raining all day yesterday _and_ we're on the third floor. It would have been too dangerous of a maneuver, plus they would have left muddy footprints."

"Good grief, this is a lot more complex than I thought…" the bewildered attorney scratched his head in annoyance.

While the two adults were talking, Dona looked over at the wall next to the door and noticed some sort of panel. She pointed to it and asked Heather, "What is this supposed to be?"

"Oh, that? It's the control panel for a laser sensor system she had installed only in this room. It's disabled now, but there were invisible sensors that would trigger if anyone other than Grimhilde and any guests she inputted into the computer entered the room. It functioned using biometrics, and the only people who were registered were Grimhilde and Kriemhilde. That's another major reason why Kriemhilde was arrested, since she was the only other one allowed in here."

"So she had multiple locks _and_ a laser system for this room!?" Phoenix exclaimed. "Isn't that a bit overkill?"

"Artists can be strange folk indeed."

Dona looked at the locked safe and said, "I guess it has to do with whatever is inside that."

"Absolutely. Both Volsung daughters attested that their mother was overly excessive with protecting her designs from being leaked before they became public. As if these other security measures weren't enough, the safe is operated on both a passcode and a fingerprint scanner. No one can open it other than the victim, and I sure wouldn't use the corpse's fingerprints to try and bypass the fingerprint recognition software in good conscience. Even if I did, no one knows what the password is anyway."

 _I suppose it's not important to worry about the safe's contents when we should be finding Mrs. Volsung's killer,_ Dona pondered. As Phoenix and Heather talked some more, she kept writing notes as fast as she could. She stood behind her superior as they examined the bed, and was the closest one to the eastern wall when it happened…

 _ **BANG!**_

Something shot past the right side of Dona's head, grazing her ear, piercing through her long white hair and causing a few locks to fall to the floor. The window in her view shattered in a surprise crashing of glass. Her eyes widened in shock from the force of this strange projectile narrowly missing her. The last thing she remembered was losing her balance and collapsing on her knees to the floor.

" _ **DONA!"**_ Phoenix shrieked. He couldn't comprehend what the hell just happened – he only had enough sense to kneel next to the unconscious girl and hold her up. "Are you okay!? Hang in there, Dona!"

At the same time, Heather and the policemen instinctively drew their guns and faced the general direction where the unexpected sound came from. To the detective's confusion, it originated from the east side of the room where the dresser, safe and painting were located. No one could have possibly shot at Dona from that position. Then Heather's suspicions grew when she noticed a faint amount of smoke rising out of the painting, along with smelling the distinct scent of gunpowder. With her gun at the ready, she dashed toward the wall and pressed her back against it, then carefully peered at the picture. She glared back and forth between the painting and the window, realizing that something was very wrong with the area.

"Mr. Wright, get her out of here," Heather commanded. "One of you guys, call the prosecutor!"

A policeman saluted her and called someone on his cell phone. Phoenix carried Dona in his arms while asking, "Did you find the gun!?"

"I don't see one, but it's obvious that it's hidden behind this illustration."

The lawyer wanted to ask for more details, but he figured that Heather was equally as stupefied as him and couldn't provide him the answers until she performed a thorough investigation. Plus he was more worried for Dona's well-being anyway, so he focused on bringing her downstairs and lying her on the sofa. He examined her face and ear, only spotting a tiny trickle of blood on her earlobe.

 _Damn, that was too close for comfort,_ Phoenix realized. _She'll be okay, but what in the world just shot at her!?_

While examining his assistant, he noticed an officer saluting at someone approaching the front door. The newcomer appeared to be in his mid-20s, had short brown hair spread out like wings and a curly strand of hair sticking up like a question mark. He had an embellished prosecutor's badge pinned to the lapel of his blue gakuran uniform, wore a red jacket over his shoulders, and carried a flexible wand with him at all times.

"Hm? Who're you supposed to be?" the young man asked.

"I'm Kriemhilde Volsung's lawyer, Phoenix Wright," the attorney introduced himself. "There's been an accident at the crime scene and my assistant here has passed out."

"An accident? Oh, that must be what that officer phoned me about. Is the victim going to be okay?"

"Luckily she wasn't hurt, but I brought her down here after she lost consciousness. Fenberry's trying to find out what's going on."

"I see."

"You wouldn't happen to be the appointed prosecutor for this case, would you?"

"Yes, I am. The name's Sebastian Debeste, Mr. Wright," the young man introduced himself with a wave of his baton.

Phoenix became curious, and he said, "Since I need to wait for the crime scene to be secured, I figure I should ask you about your case against Ms. Volsung."

"I'm not in the habit of explaining myself to the defense attorney on the case," Sebastian frowned. "Although to be perfectly honest, neither of us have much to go on regarding the defendant's alibi. Her claim that she was home the whole night has been consistent this entire time, but there's no way she can prove it."

"So why was she arrested in the first place? Just because she has a weak alibi doesn't mean she's automatically guilty."

"Remember what she said about the security system in Grimhilde's room. It would only be disabled whenever she allowed Kriemhilde to enter. No one else could have been pretty to the details of the security system other than her."

"'Pretty'? Don't you mean 'privy'?"

"Yeah, that. All she had to do was ask to be let in, wait for the system to be turned off, then kill her. Kriemhilde even said that she had to unbolt the door when the teens found the body, so she had the key that allowed her to go in and out of the bedroom at will. 'Closed room murder', my foot. This one's as open and shut as they come."

"Oh, really?" Phoenix countered. "I beg to differ, Mr. Debeste. What about the chain lock that can only be set from the inside?"

"I'm sure the police will find some kind of trick behind it. It's not unheard of to use string and tape to deal with a chain lock and, as a designer, the defendant is well versed when it comes to using such simple tools."

"Detective Fenberry just said they didn't find anything that could be used to set it from outside."

"Seriously? Well that's a major wretch in the works."

"It's 'wrench'. And even if your theory was true, concealing a rifle is downright impossible. Grimhilde would have never allowed her daughter inside if she spotted her carrying such a large weapon."

"Either you're senile, or you're pulling off your notorious bluffing act, Mr. Wright," Sebastian chuckled.

"Uh, neither. I'm just asking a simple question…"

"Kriemhilde had plenty of time to dispose of such a large weapon. After all, her sister was gone out for the night and she just killed her mother. She probably threw it in the river or something."

"Um… You still haven't addressed how she managed to bring the gun into the room without alerting her mother."

"Then the victim kept a gun in her room for an emergency!"

Phoenix smacked his forehead. "Didn't you get a report from the police saying they didn't find any guns? The victim doesn't even have a permit!"

"Oh!" Sebastian's lock of hair stood tall in response to his surprise. "… I did, actually. It just slipped my mind for a moment."

 _If I'm senile, then you're incompetent, buddy. I suppose I should be grateful that my opponent isn't going to be as threatening as Edgeworth or Franziska von Karma. Debeste keeps getting his facts wrong, and he doesn't have a strong case against Kriemhilde._

"But now that I think about it," the prosecutor remarked, "Didn't something resembling a bullet nearly kill Ms. DiPrima just now? That means Grimhilde _did_ have a gun in her bedroom somewhere!"

 _Ack! Okay, maybe he's not as clumsy as I originally thought,_ Phoenix sweated. _If Fenberry really does find a gun somewhere around that wall, it could be bad news for Kriemhilde._

At that moment, they heard Heather return downstairs. She regarded Sebastian with, "Just the person I need to talk to. We finished analyzing the eastern wall for any sort of concealed ballistics."

"Did you find anything?"

"Yes, sir. There was a rifle barrel with a suppressor hidden in the eastern wall between the bedroom and atelier. It's been removed for forensic analysis, so the room is secure now. We recovered two .308 caliber bullets – one from the western wall that killed Grimhilde, and the other that missed Dona lodged in the backyard tree – and compared both of their rifling marks to the hidden gun. They wound up being a perfect match."

"So that's our murder weapon."

"And thus, the 'closed room mystery' is quashed," Phoenix added.

"Absolutely," Heather nodded with visible relief. "The weapon doesn't actually function like a gun does. Essentially, it's more like a miniature cannon where gunpowder is packed into a chamber, the bullet is loaded into the bore, then the fuse is ignited to fire the shot. It's a miniaturized version of the rifle designed to function like a concealed turret. In addition, we found three extra bullets hidden in a magazine next to the gun, so it's safe to assume that five rounds were provided in total. A picture hanging on the wall cleverly disguised the gun barrel's presence, and we did not notice it until the weapon had discharged during the investigation. For all intents and purposes, Grimhilde had a computer-guided firearm installed as a secret security measure."

" _Y-You're kidding!"_ Phoenix yelled.

"Well there you go, Mr. Wright," Sebastian grinned haughtily. "There _was_ a gun inside this house. All Kriemhilde had to do was gain entry into her mother's room, retrieve the gun and-"

"Not so fast, Prosecutor," Heather stopped him. "The gun is buried deep within the wall separating the bedroom and studio, and only the tip of the barrel sticks out of the painting when an intruder is detected. After the shot is fired, the barrel retracts back into the wall and a section of the picture slides back into place, completing our 'disappearing gun' illusion."

Now it was the prosecutor's turn to be appalled. " _ **Whaaat!?**_ I've never heard of anything like that! How the heck can a computer-controlled gun tell the difference between the owner and an intruder!?"

Phoenix found his opportunity to go on the offensive as he declared, "It didn't! Just as how it misfired at Dona today, it could have likewise done the same to Grimhilde last night! In other words, we're dealing with a-!"

"I'm going to have to stop you right there, Mr. Attorney," Heather raised her hand. She took out a cranberry granola bar she had in her pocket and munched away as she said, "Save your bickering for after I present all of the facts, gentlemen."

"Urk…"

"Although there isn't much known regarding this technology, we did manage to find something interesting engraved on the gun's barrel. It was a serial number that traced back to Nibelung Corporation."

"Nibelung?" Phoenix wondered. "Isn't that the security company founded by some guy who emigrated from Germany?"

"Sigmund Nibelung," Sebastian explained. "Although he was poor when he moved here, he was a genius with computers. It didn't take him long to amiss a small fortune thanks to him developing a groundbreaking security program for the military. He founded his company so he could develop such top-of-the-line security features for the civilian market."

"'Amiss' a small fortune? You must mean 'amass'…"

"Anyway, a couple of years ago he was involved in a huge patent infringement scandal where one of his employees stole some top-secret programming code and sold it to a rival company, who then patented the technology before Sigmund could. He brought the thief and rival company to court, but they pretty much made the employee their fall guy and pleaded plausible deniability to cover their own butts."

"What was the patent that was stolen?"

"Hmmm… I can't remember at the top of my head," the prosecutor scratched his head. "I'll have to have one of my guys find old articles about it."

"In any case," Heather interrupted them, "the gun is obviously connected to Nibelung. It means that, murder aside, both Grimhilde and Sigmund's company broke the law by installing this technology without the victim having a gun permit. I don't know if this is supposed to be some kind of trial version or whatever, but clearly it's too dangerous for civilian purposes. I have no idea what the victim was thinking when she had this thing installed in her room, considering that her two daughters lived here with her.

"Now that I think about it, Kriemhilde stated to me that Grimhilde flat out forbade Brunhilde to enter the room, but that she always had to add Kriemhilde as a guest to the harmless sensor system before allowing her inside. She's maintained that she's only aware of the trip sensors, so perhaps Grimhilde also had to make sure our little 'computerized turret' didn't target her daughter by mistake as well. The bolt and chain locks acted as double insurance to make sure no one could enter when she wasn't around, lest she wind up discovering one of her daughters dead."

"That's _insane_ ," Phoenix gasped. "What the heck could be so important that she had to take such drastic measures to protect it!?"

"There was a large safe on the same wall as the gun, so my theory is that she wanted to keep people away from the contents inside the safe. Remember that when you enter the room, the picture frame is closer to the door than the safe, so even if an intruder bypassed the more obvious sensor system, they would have stood no chance against the hidden firearm."

Neither Phoenix nor Sebastian could comprehend what they were hearing. Heather finished eating her snack and stated, "I know it's too early into the investigation to draw any definitive conclusions, but there are a few perplexing questions I have about this rifle-cannon. The biggest one is how it never fired at myself or my officers, yet it discharged at an uninvolved citizen almost 24 hours after the crime was discovered."

"Maybe there was some kind of bug or glitch in the program that caused it to accidentally discharge," Phoenix suggested. "That could be the reason Mrs. Volsung was killed as well."

"So you're saying that this glitch killed the owner, yet conveniently left all others alone? I'm pretty sure that's what a security system is trying to prevent in the first place, Mr. Wright," Sebastian countered.

"Uh… Well, Detective Fenberry said it was too early to tell, so-"

"Then it's early for you to rule out your client's involvement, isn't it?"

"By that logic, it's too early to place sole guilt on Kriemhilde as well, right!?"

Suddenly, Heather brandished her riding crop and whipped it between the arguing men. She commanded in a stern yet quiet tone, "No fighting when there is a lady sleeping! Or do I need you both to run the gauntlet to pipe down!?"

They remembered Dona resting on the sofa and quieted down. Whatever arguments they drew up from the investigation would have to wait for tomorrow's trial. Sebastian coughed a little and uttered, "A-Anyway, Detective Fenberry, please continue the good work. I'll give Mr. Nibelung a call and make him explain himself as far as this gun is concerned. I'll certainly give him an earful on Ms. DiPrima's account."

"Don't forget to ask him about the patent theft incident that he was involved with before. It may or may not provide clues for us to go on."

"I know. I'll even have him send one of his engineers to help with the investigation since we're dealing with his brand of security systems."

Phoenix said to Heather, "If you don't mind, I would like to see what your search will turn up while waiting for Dona to regain consciousness."

"As long as Mr. Debeste doesn't see a problem with it."

Sebastian scratched his chin, then replied, "I'll give you permission."

"Really?" Phoenix was surprised that a prosecutor was allowing him to cooperate with the investigation.

"Why do you look so shocked, Mr. Wright? I'm not the kind of prosecutor who will bend the facts to his will. I've grown tired of such grout-"

"Clout."

"-controlling the legal world from behind the scenes. Besides, this is looking to be a difficult case even with the 'closed room mystery' part debunked. Any new information that we can find on both of our ends will only help us out."

"Then I'll leave Dona with you, Prosecutor Debeste. Please make sure she's okay."

"Certainly."


	16. Turnabout Wing - 6

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Investigation: Part 3**

 **November 4, 2027**

 **1:00 PM**

 **Volsung Residence – Lounge**

"-nt to hear any excuses! There should be absolutely no reason for this!"

Dona stirred awake to the sound of someone yelling. She didn't know who the voice belonged to, but she didn't want to interrupt their tirade and become a target of their anger, so she kept her eyes closed and listened.

"The serial number matches with products issued by your company, Sigmund. I can understand the laser system, but to think that you have been installing _those_ things in peoples' homes is inexcusable! … You're _still_ going on about that!? I don't believe it even for a minute! Because of what was in that room, a woman is dead and an innocent girl could have been killed! For all I know, you could be in the market of secretly selling military-grade security systems to people who have no business toying around with such weapons! Don't you understand!? You're endangering the public with your products!"

 _So they connected the security system with Mr. Nibelung. I should have figured, since Nibelung Corporation is the premier company for home security._

"Listen to me, Mr. Nibelung. No matter how much you want to go on about some ex-employee of yours, the fact remains that the serial numbers match! … You think they're forged? Then I need to see it for myself! Can you provide me the original product that those numbers refer to? If you can't do that, then your company will come under intense scrutiny during this investigation! … Yes, _now_! I want that kind of information yesterday! … Fine. You know where the crime scene is, right? … Good. Find anything you can about those serial numbers, as well as whether or not this ex-employee of yours could be involved. I want those results in my hands no later than 5:00 PM!"

The man clicked his phone off with an angry huff. Dona saw this chance to finally open her eyes and slowly sit up on the couch. She discovered an unfamiliar red jacket draped over her upper body that acted as a makeshift blanket, then turned her gaze to the fellow sitting nearby with the phone.

"You're awake," Sebastian said, his foul mood disappearing almost instantly. "Mr. Wright and Detective Fenberry told me what happened to you. Are you all right, Ms. DiPrima?"

"Um… I think so," Dona murmured. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure what 'happened' to begin with."

"Now that you mention it, the detective said you fainted immediately afterwards. You were fast asleep when I arrived, and Mr. Wright asked me to watch over you."

"So who might you be anyway? Judging from that badge, you must be the prosecutor on the case."

"How acute of you."

 _He meant 'astute', right?_

"I am Sebastian Debeste, prodigy prosecutor. I've already been informed about who you are and how you're related to the case. Although I have my respirations about allowing someone so young to participate in a criminal investigation, I can also relate with you since I started prosecuting at 17. As an alo- alumi-… graduate of Themis, I can fully understand your enthusiasm for seeking justice."

 _Oh, boy. I feel like it'd be a waste of time to go grammar Nazi with him._

"I see. So getting back to the case on hand, I was woken up by you yelling at someone on the phone. Was it Sigmund Nibelung by any chance?" Dona asked.

"You're familiar with him? Indeed, it was Sigmund I just spoke to. Detective Fenberry explained to me about the computer-controlled gun installed in Grimhilde's safe and how it went off during the investigation. If you had been even a few centimeters to the right, we would have had a second death on our hands."

She widened her eyes and blinked visibly. "… Computer-controlled gun?"

"Oh, that's right. You don't know about that yet," Sebastian frowned grimly, then explained everything that the others discovered while she was asleep. She had a hard time believing what he was telling her, but also felt relieved that there really hadn't been an impossible crime. It would take a lot of stress off of the investigation and help provide clear-cut answers for the judge.

"Isn't owning a gun without a permit illegal, even if it's part of a security system?" Dona asked.

"I would think so, but since we only just found out about this technology, the law will be iffy as to whether or not Grimhilde and Nibelung Corporation broke the law. In any case, the forensics team have removed the gun for evidence, and they assigned the trajectory of the bullet from the weapon, through the victim's head, and into the opposite wall. The rifle markings on both bullets also match."

"So we don't really have a 'closed room murder' per se. If the hidden rifle went off by mistake, then Kree couldn't have-"

"Not so fast," he stopped her. "It's true that the concept of a murderer escaping a closed room is essentially moot now. Basically, Grimhilde bolted the door shut and set the chain lock herself, then was standing in front of the bed when the gun fired at around 5:00 PM. If we only had the one shot that killed Grimhilde, it could have been ruled an accident. However, a major contradiction arose when the police examined the path of the bullet that missed you."

"What did they find?"

Sebastian drew a basic outline of the room for Dona as he explained, "Here in red, we have the path for the murderous shot. As you can see, it's angled in a way that the bullet could imbue itself into the wall next to the window. Now we have this blue line, which reprehends the shot that missed you."

Her lips tightened pensively to form a line. "That can't be right. Isn't the gun supposed to be stationary? Why has the trajectory shifted several degrees to the left?"

"More like the gun moved down and to the left from its original position. We mapped where everyone was standing at that moment, and you were the only one in its range. Fortunately you avoided it, but it shows that the turret is not stationary. It can actually pan across the room and snipe someone from a distance, not just directly in front of the picture."

"Now that you mention it, the first shot indeed went into the wall. But right after the second one was fired, I heard the window glass shattering before passing out."

"Exactly. That's the very reason Detective Fenberry suspected that the gun wasn't fixed in place. But what worries me is that the weapon never discharged while the police were investigating the scene throughout the night, nor did they find any sign of there being a gun behind the picture frame in the first place. They actually had to remove the entire painting and wall around it just to find it hiding in the wall between the bedroom and ato- atri- atelly… workshop. Not once did it ever react to their presents, which doesn't add up to the very reason Grimhilde secretly installed the gun to begin with."

"It was a rather violent security measure," Dona murmured. "If it functioned as normal, then it would have fired at the cops by mistake when they first broke into the room. Nothing ever happened until it almost killed me. But then, why did it not go off until a full day later… and right at me too?"

Her skin became deathly pallid as her line of thinking made her recall what Brunhilde told her before:

" _One of the girls here is the daughter of a deputy, and she overheard him saying that the arrested Fafnir members had confessed about some kind of hit job that they were hired to do on someone in particular. It involved the target passing by the construction site and that the girder was planned to fall right on them. From there, the death would be disguised as an accident. Apparently either you or that boy were the target, and the job failed because both of you survived."_

"Ms. DiPrima?" Sebastian wondered. "Are you okay?"

"Uh… I'm not really sure if this is related to the case, but…"

She told him everything about the construction 'accident', her joining the Valkyrie Wings gang, and how their rivals the Fafnir Crusaders were involved in accepting contract killing jobs against either her or Sigurd. The prosecutor didn't know what to make of her story, but she added, "Their leader is someone named Balmung, and I overheard Sigmund's son saying that it was also used as an acronym for a prototype security program that he had developed in his early days."

"So you think this Balmung person is related to the Nibelung Corporation, and that he possibly wants you dead?"

"I don't have any empirical proof, so I can't really say for sure. I overheard you talking to Sigmund earlier, and you were saying that his company installed the gun, correct?"

"The serial numbers matched, so that's why I affronted him. He admitted that Grimhilde hired some of his engineers to install that complex laser system throughout her room. But when it comes to the hidden rifle, he venomently denied any involvement. He even went so far as to accuse one of his former employees of installing it. Of course I didn't accept his claim, so he's scrambling around trying to find evidence for me to look over."

"What's the name of that ex-employee?"

Sebastian went through his notes and said, "Gippich Defekt. Apparently he was fired for selling out the patent of some top secret programming code to a different company. No one wants to hire him anymore due to that notorious sandal."

"Defekt…?" Dona whispered. She thought she had heard that name before, so she found her collection of profiles that Brunhilde had loaned her and went through the papers. One name jogged her memory as she took out the page and said, "This is Gunther Defekt, the supposed leader of the Fafnir Crusaders. His father is listed as Gippich Defekt, so maybe… Wait a minute-!"

After another minute of scrambling through the papers, she extracted another dossier and read it aloud:

"Gippich Defekt, 40… Father of Gunther Defekt… Computer programmer… Former employment: Nibelung Corporation…"

Sebastian swiped the page from her and read it for himself with wide eyes. "Gippich's gone vogue with these gangsters!?"

"That could be the case. You just said that no one wants to hire him due to the patent stealing incident. In that case, he might have joined the Fafnirs with his son in order to make his living. Furthermore, he could have access to the Nibelung Corporation's legitimate serial numbers since he used to work for them."

"That's true, but we can't say with absolute certainty that Gippich Defekt was the one who installed the computerized rifle. The only person who can identify him is dead."

"Were there any tests done on the weapon for fingerprints or DNA?" Dona asked.

"The forensics lab is working on that now. I had intended to compare any fingerprints they found with Sigmund's employees. Now that there is a connection with this man, I need to find his prints on file and have the boys compare those as well. If he is a member of this dangerous gang, I may have to investigate him and these other members for other potential crimes. Ms. DiPrima, I'll have to complicate these profiles from you."

"Go ahead, Prosecutor Debeste. They're photocopies anyway."

While Sebastian pored over the documents, Dona thought about going back upstairs and seeing what Phoenix was up to. She had spent a good hour and a half talking with the prosecutor and not once did she see the attorney return to see how she was doing. What else was in that room that had Phoenix's attention for so long? The blood on the bed, perhaps? She got up and tried to approach the stairs, but that was when the doorbell rang. A police officer answered the door and allowed the new guest to enter. It was Sigmund Nibelung, and he brought with him a case containing his laptop and papers.

"Mr. Nibelung!" Sebastian exclaimed. "That was awfully quick of you. I know I said I wanted that data from you fast, but not _this_ fast!"

"When I heard that an automated gun with my company's serial numbers was installed in this house, I immediately procured the product with the real numbers and collected any history regarding Gippich Defekt, the ex-employee I mentioned," Sigmund replied. "He and I go way back since we shared the dream of starting a robotics company in this country, and we emigrated to this country together. You could consider me a living textbook for that man's life."

Dona was too curious to see what the technician had brought with him, so she returned to the sofa and asked him, "What makes so you sure it was Mr. Defekt who did this?"

"You're Sigurd's classmate, aren't you? Are you all right?"

"I'm unharmed. Prosecutor Debeste and I were just talking about that man and how he joined the Fafnir Crusaders along with his son Gunther as a gang member."

"So that's what he's been up to… How despicable," Sigmund glowered. "Well, allow me to cut to the chase and explain our arrangements concerning the installment of the laser guided system. It's true that Grimhilde called me personally and hired my company's services to protect her designs from being stolen. Grim and I go back as childhood friends in Germany and she came to this country about a year after I did, so I had no issue with this transaction. But I absolutely assure you that the laser system was the only thing we had installed. I brought along the record detailing the job and the names of the engineers involved."

He gave those papers to Sebastian, who confirmed that Gippich Defekt was not among the list of names. Sigmund continued, "Grim's request came about a month after I fired Gippich for patent theft, and I made sure to warn my competitors of his actions so he would not repeat the same thing with them. I admit that the scandal had made her very nervous since some of her competitors were after her designs, so she wanted me to install the sensor system so the same thing wouldn't happen to her."

"What exactly was this patent that he sold behind your back?" the prosecutor asked. "Does it have anything to do with the rifle that killed Grimhilde?"

"I strongly suspect that to be the case. Although I cannot discuss the details concerning my client, I had been commissioned to develop a security system that utilized concealed rifles that would shoot down anyone attempting to breach a particular place, other than those who had been registered prior to the gun's activation. This would be possible through biometrics, where unique physical data from certain individuals are inputted into the computer so that they would not be targeted when they approached the 'black zone', as I have coined it."

"You do realize that you need a gun permit prior to owning any sort of firearm, correct? Although the law is vague concerning this kind of technology for civilian use, I think the current legislations would include any guns installed as part of an automated security system."

"I cannot speak for the client's concerns over legality. My company was offered a major deal if this project was developed successfully, and I accepted it. But just when we were almost ready for testing, a different company emerged and completed the deal with my client before we could finish. They had sold not a mere prototype, but the completed model! Furthermore, all of the programming code that we had developed was patented to them!" Sigmund raged.

Dona asked nervously, "What was the name of the other company?"

"GAIM."

"Huh? Game? As in hunting wild animals?" Sebastian pondered.

"No, no, GAIM. It's short for Global Affairs, Industries and Markets. It's an international non-government organization that seeks to stimulate markets and jobs in countries suffering from economic depression. But in reality, it's nothing more than a collection of the world's biggest crooks operating under an umbrella company. Gippich would have had no problem selling the code to GAIM so they could patent it themselves. My client accepted GAIM's model, and we had to scrap ours!

"Of course I traced the theft back to him and fired him after a huge lawsuit! If I couldn't produce the security gun technology, then I could at least warn others not to hire this traitor and risk having their programming code stolen too! I made absolutely sure to plaster that man's face on every possible national paper I could contact!"

Dona and Sebastian glanced at each other apprehensively, uncertain of how to continue the conversation. Sigmund inadvertently helped them out by remarking, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Gippich has resorted to joining some underground cabal. To think that he's involved Gunther in this is almost too much for me to bear though. I know he was a troublemaker during his youth, but he's had some difficult family circumstances to deal with aside from his father's antics. I only worry about what all of this will do to the poor boy…"

"Speaking of which, Brune mentioned to me that Gunther is supposed to be the 'leader' of this gang, the Fafnir Crusaders," Dona said. "She had a rather negative opinion of him too, saying he was quite violent and wouldn't think twice of sending you to the hospital if you looked at him the wrong way."

"Really? I've known that boy a long time and I don't recall him having such a personality. Sure he's got a short fuse and isn't terribly bright, but his love for sports knows no bounds. I always figured he would become a pro basketball player when he grew up. It's just a shame that he became addicted to gambling and accrued quite the debt."

"Actually, Brune said that he's acting as the front man for the real leader. Word around the streets is that the real leader is using the nickname Balmung and issuing his orders through Gunther. And then I heard from Sigurd at school one day that BALMUNG was an acronym for an old program you worked on. Do you think there could be a connection between the two?"

"Balmung!?" Sigmund sounded really surprised. "It's true that BALMUNG was the name of the very first computer language I developed, along with several of my partners. Naturally, Gippich was one of those partners as well!"

"So only yourself, Sigurd, Gippich, and your fellow coworkers know about this term?"

"Absolutely. Hmm… Hmmmm…!"

"Is something the matter, Mr. Nibelung?" Sebastian asked.

"If this Balmung person really borrowed his name from the computer language, wouldn't it be logical that Gippich is the leader of the Fafnirs?"

"What makes you say that!?" the prosecutor exclaimed as the cowlick on his head stood tall in response to his surprise.

"He fits the criteria. He can't possibly get another job due to the scandal, so he's turned to the criminal life to make money. He's using a code name that only a select few people know about with my company. And then he has his son join and makes him act as the front man to send his orders to these people."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"It's only speculation at this point, to be sure. I just can't think of anything else though. If only there was concrete proof tying Gippich to either the gang or this crime, you could put that crook behind bars for good before he causes anyone else any trouble!"

That was when Sebastian's phone rang to the tune of _First-Class Farewell_ , and he answered it with, "Debeste here. … You have the results? … Mm-hm… What!? Damn it! All right, send it to my office spat!"

The frantic young man hung up and exclaimed, "That was the forensics lab. It's just as you suggested, Mr. Nibelung – only Gippich Defekt's fingerprints were found all over the rifle barrel!"

"Unbelievable!" Sigmund roared. "So he really _did_ install that weapon! He also had the nerve to try and pin the blame on me! I'll have that bastard's head if it's the last thing I do!"

"Do you think Mrs. Volsung hired him to do it, or did he sneak in on his own?" Dona wondered.

"There's only one way to find out; to make that man talk!"

"I'll execute a warrant for his arrest immediately!" Sebastian declared, rapidly dialing the number for the precinct. He issued his orders to the officer on the other line, then hung up and said, "Sorry, but it looks like I'm going to have my hands tied here for a bit. When I get the chance though, I'm going to want to talk to you by the day's end, Ms. DiPrima."

"Me? Whatever for?" the student asked and pointed to herself.

"Regardless of the outcome of this investigation, I'm going to need you to take the stand in tomorrow's trial. Your testimony regarding your brief history with the Valkyrie Wings and the fact that the Fafnirs were hired to kill either you or Sigurd will be important in understanding this case."

"In what way? Is there a distinct connection between Mrs. Volsung and the Fafnirs?"

"It all comes back to Gippich Defekt. If that gang agrees to accepting hit jobs, then it would be likely that someone wanted them to kill Grimhilde as well!"

"Ah!" It made perfect sense to Dona. She thought about the business rivals who had airtight alibis and wondered if they hired the gang to get Grimhilde out of the way.

 _But then, that doesn't explain how Kree is involved in this. Is there something I'm missing here? Or is Prosecutor Debeste trying to imply something really sinister…?_

"If you'll excuse me, I have to head back to the Prosecutor's Office," Sebastian remarked, then ran out the front door.

"I suppose I should assist my technician with investigating this rifle that Gippich installed," Sigmund said to Dona. "I'm most curious to see what kind of programming was used for the targeting system. It could be the key to figuring out whether or not Grim's death was actually a murder or an accident. I don't mean to downplay your situation, but comparing that shot with your near-miss could help me out tremendously."

"How would you be able to tell if it's a murder versus an accident?" she asked.

"The original code I developed for my client was incomplete as far as programming the gun to differentiate between registered users and an intruder. The safest method I could think of was creating a remote-controlled trigger, but that would require having someone be stationed at the controls at all times in order to ensure security. My client would not have accepted that though, so I was struggling on how to solve this problem until I discovered biometric technology and figured out how to incorporate it. I was about to complete the prototype, but that was when Gippich betrayed me and sold the patent data to GAIM, and then they finished the technology and sold it to my client!"

"So if the weapon used a remote-controlled trigger, it would strongly suggest murder, right?"

"Only Grim and Gippich knew of its existence, so if it really was remotely controlled, he's the only one who could have done it. I can't imagine little Kree being capable of committing such a heinous act against her mother. She's practically computer illiterate!"

 _So Mr. Nibelung's opinion is on the defense's side. His point about her being bad with computers could also be a big plus for Mr. Wright,_ Dona thought, then asked, "And if it functions via biometrics?"

Sigmund folded his arms in contemplation. "Well, that would certainly make things a lot harder. Mr. Wright's theory that a glitch occurred becomes entirely plausible. That was another issue I needed to contend with during the development phase – that a bug could override the system while a registered user was in range, and the gun would discharge at the person thinking it was an intruder. I worry as to whether or not GAIM developed a solution, or if they intentionally left it alone prior to patenting it. Of course, there's one other possibility I can think of that could make this a homicide."

"What would that be?" Dona raised an eyebrow.

"A hacker."

"You mean someone can get into that gun's biometric registry?"

"If there is a backdoor that can bypass it, then absolutely."

"What's a backdoor?"

"Exactly as it implies – a method where someone can access a network through unauthorized means from a remote location. Think of someone finding your email account that has an easy password to crack, then they change it to something that can't be broken and start using your email for criminal activities."

"I see. So if there was a vulnerability in a biometrics program, they could manipulate data from the registered users and cause the rifle to discharge when it shouldn't. That would certainly be grounds for murder."

"Precisely," Sigmund nodded. "That's why I want to see what sort of programming was used for this gun and determine what Grim's death really is."

 _I hope it turns out to be a glitch of some kind. That would automatically clear Kree of her charges,_ Dona thought. _Although even if it winds up being a hacker's doing, she would still have to be linked as the one responsible. She couldn't have possibly shot me since she's in custody, but this trial is for Mrs. Volsung's murder. Ultimately, it has nothing to do with me._

"If you'll excuse me," the man said and was about to go upstairs.

"Just a moment, Mr. Nibelung. There's something I actually wanted to ask you," Dona stopped him.

"What would that be?"

"I want to know what Sigurd's interests and hobbies are. I've only known him for two months, so I don't really know what he's like other than he's very loquacious and tends to brag about your accomplishments."

Sigmund raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "You wouldn't be interested in being his girlfriend, would you? Because, unfortunately, that won't be possible."

 _Ack! What gave him that kind of idea!?_

"No, sir! It's just that since we're going to be in the same class for the next four years, I figured it would be good to have a better understanding of my classmates. Who knows? Perhaps our paths may cross frequently once we become full-fledged defense attorneys."

"Oh, is that all?"

 _Yes, 'that is all'. Please drop the subject already._

"Well, Sigurd is mostly a homebody who likes to play on the computer a lot, even to the point of locking his door so he won't be interrupted. I thought for sure he wanted to inherit my position as CEO, but then he was all insistent upon being a defense attorney like his mother," Sigmund explained.

"Does he have any interests outside of computers?" Dona asked.

"Hmm… He likes MMORPGs, online chess, writing stories with others on forums, scouring the Web for pictures… Why, he even orders take-out solely on the computer. You wouldn't believe how cranky he gets when a blackout happens."

 _Those are not 'interests outside of computers', sir._

"Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, it does. Thank you very much," the student nodded. Sigmund went up to help his computer technician with the investigation. Dona barely noticed him go as she fixed her glasses while thinking about what Sigmund described of his son. She remained like this for several minutes as her rampant thoughts began arranging themselves into something coherent.

 _Curious… When I consider each fact individually, it makes no sense. But when I string them together with logic, there's only one conclusion I can think of. Of course a little more digging is in order, but if it's really true, then it would explain the source of my uneasy mood over the last while._


	17. Turnabout Wing - 7

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Investigation: Part 4**

 **November 4, 2027**

 **2:45 PM**

 **Volsung Residence – Lounge**

As Dona stood there in deep contemplation, Phoenix returned downstairs and found her. He grabbed her shoulders and exclaimed, "Dona! Are you awake now!?"

"Yes, Mr. Wright. Prosecutor Debeste told me what happened to make me pass out. Fortunately I am uninjured otherwise."

"Oh, thank goodness!" the lawyer sighed with relief. "I was beside myself with worry. Just to be on the safe side, you better not strain yourself any further. Take it easy and leave the investigating to me."

"I understand."

"So did you get to talk with the prosecutor while I was busy?"

"Yes, I did. He, Mr. Nibelung and I were able to figure out who had installed the rifle and used serial numbers from Nibelung Corporation to throw off the trail."

"Right, he mentioned it to me. It was a former employee of his, wasn't it? I remember the whole ordeal surrounding that company being in the papers, but I'm surprised that the fingerprints on the gun were conclusively linked to Mr. Defekt. Didn't the technology get patented to some other corporation due to his betrayal?"

"It belongs to GAIM, or Global Affairs, Industries and Markets," Dona recalled. "The guns have been sold to militaries across the world, but there are no civilian models available as of yet. It's hardly a long stretch to assume that Gippich – and by extension the Fafnirs – acquired it through the black market."

"That's true," Phoenix agreed, "although this GAIM company already sounds sketchy to me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Wouldn't you think that a more responsible corporation would reject something being developed by another company and call out on the thief? Instead, Gippich managed to sell it to them and they patented it almost immediately with little concern as to how it would affect Sigmund. GAIM even claimed that some low-level employees were involved in the scandal along with Gippich and fired them, presumably to save face. Those lawsuits are still ongoing to this day."

"Large conglomerates are just like that, Mr. Wright," Dona shook her head in disappointment. "They have no face, lack ethics, and think of only the bottom line. Mr. Nibelung's company can likewise be viewed with such scrutiny when he had accepted a job from someone to develop a biometrically functioning security gun. He even said that he didn't consider what legal issues would arise from such a deal should his client try to sell it to the civilian market."

The attorney sighed and reluctantly said, "I suppose so. Besides, that's not what we really should be focusing on. We still need to figure out how and why the gun discharged, and prove to the prosecution that Kriemhilde couldn't have done it."

"Speaking of which, you were at the crime scene with Detective Fenberry for quite a while. Was there anything new discovered while I was with Prosecutor Debeste?"

"We went through that room with a fine-toothed comb to make sure there were no other hidden weapons or devices, but there was nothing else of interest. I also took a good look at the bloodstains on the bed, and the forensics technician determined that Grimhilde was standing when she was shot. Then the gun's angle changed slightly when it fired at you."

"Prosecutor Debeste pointed that out to me. It had to compensate for my shorter height and different position in the bedroom. I'm still kind of perplexed that it missed me, given that targeting systems are extremely accurate these days."

"Whatever might have happened, you're extremely lucky to be alive. Your ear was grazed and some of your hair had fallen out. Fenberry is keeping those hairs as evidence for the trial."

"Why would she need those?"

Just then, they heard the detective call out to them from several steps above, "They're to demonstrate to the judge how dangerous this technology is to the public. Knowing the judge, she will want to hear debate about the legality of these biometric guns in future rulings."

"So they're not necessarily for Mrs. Volsung's murder?"

"Right. Since we have two separate cases occurring in the same room, we need to keep evidence for them apart from each other," Heather explained as she approached the pair in the lounge. "It's too early to tell whether or not there's a correlation between them beyond the same weapon being used. That will be for Sigmund and his computer guys to figure out. We're pretty much done with the crime scene, so I need to speak with Debeste about our findings."

"Did you get a chance to talk with him regarding what he and Mr. Nibelung found out while you and Mr. Wright were upstairs?" Dona asked.

"Not yet. I need to touch base with him, but I also don't want to leave in case Sigmund makes a breakthrough."

"I could fill both of you in on what we found out."

The trio sat on the sofa, and Dona spent another hour or so detailing her conversations with Sebastian and Sigmund that led to Gippich Defekt being implicated as a co-conspirator and possibly the real leader of the Fafnir Crusaders.

"Balmung, huh?" Phoenix wondered. "It's certainly possible that this guy has been behind everything, but we have no connection between him and the victim."

"Not that there needs to be one," Heather reminded him. "That group has escalated from petty crimes to killing people for hire. For all we know, Gippich could have been contracted to kill Grimhilde and he hatched this elaborate plan to accomplish it."

"Prosecutor Debeste is issuing a warrant for his arrest as we speak," Dona said. "Although to be honest, I don't know what he could be arrested for. Mrs. Volsung didn't own a gun permit, but there's no existing law stating that one is needed for any sophisticated security system that incorporates a firearm. Simply being associated with the criminal element isn't necessarily a good reason for arresting him either. Maybe there's some other crime that Mr. Defekt has been involved with and Prosecutor Debeste will use that as his excuse."

"Ugh…" the detective groaned and muttered, "He should have issued a subpoena for him, not an arrest warrant. I have no idea what the Chief Prosecutor was thinking when he assigned such an inexperienced dotard to this case. If Defekt is arrested on false charges, you can bet that he will want to exercise his right to remain silent."

"No kidding," Phoenix's glare was flat and unamused. "Sort of feels like what's happening with Kriemhilde right now. I still don't think she should be considered the primary suspect."

"Granted, her arrest was based upon the lack of an alibi, which in itself is merely circumstantial. The only concrete evidence we have are Defekt's fingerprints on the gun, and those only prove that he brought the gun to the house. We have nothing as far as demonstrating how the rifle went off in both cases."

"Then what about his alibi!? If it's just as weak as my client's, then he should also be considered a suspect!"

"I'm going to look into that when I return to the precinct. I'll let you know what I find out as soon as I can. I'm not promising all good news for you though."

"Thank you, Detective Fenberry. And if it turns out that he has an alibi, then I will either have to prove that Kriemhilde wasn't responsible or find a new suspect and connect them to the crime."

"You sound quite confident considering that there could have been a million different things that she was able to do last night without her movements being tracked. Plus you don't have anyone else who has stood out as suspicious to you, do you?"

"Well… Not yet, at least… But I can tell you that Kriemhilde was not the one who killed her mother."

Heather sighed and adjusted her hat. "That kind of self-assurance is either legendary or extremely foolish."

 _Foolish or not, I can be 100% confident,_ Phoenix thought, running his fingers over the pocket where he kept his magatama. _Because I never saw any Psyche-Locks emerge when she professed her innocence._

Dona watched the exchange quietly and kept a mental note of the attorney's strategy should she ever come across such a case in her own career. It was at this time that they heard Sigmund walking downstairs to meet up with them.

"I have news for you. The root cause of the gun being triggered has been determined," he announced.

"What did you find, Mr. Nibelung?" Heather asked.

"Unfortunately, my worst fears have come true. Someone used a backdoor to gain access to the computer, although they didn't override the registered users in the database. Rather, they took control of the gun and operated it remotely."

"Were you able to tell when this intrusion occurred?"

"I'm afraid it had been controlled during Grim's assassination and during the shot that missed Dona, meaning that we have a homicide and attempted murder. We tried to trace the signal back, but it had been severed right after the second shot went off. Whoever hacked into this computerized turret was extremely careful to eliminate the trail."

"Hmmm…" the detective frowned and scratched her chin. "You're not able to tell if it was the same individual responsible for both incidents, are you?"

"Even if the connection is restored, all we can do is find the IP address for the computer in question. Proving who actually operated it would befall to the police."

"Are you able to repair the lost signal?"

"Of course. You're talking to the best in the business."

"How long will it take?"

"Whoever our hacker was took a rather complex route to gain entry. Essentially, we would be trekking a digital labyrinth to find the source. I can't promise when we would be able to restore access to the hacker's origin, but I'm certain we're able to accomplish it."

"I see. I appreciate your cooperation with this investigation all the same," Heather nodded.

"If Gippich is trying to make me look like the bad guy, then I have little choice but to assist you to protect my reputation. Besides, I can't believe that Kriemhilde is responsible for murdering her mother, but I understand why the prosecution has its doubts."

Before Sigmund could return upstairs, Dona said, "Can I ask you something, Mr. Nibelung?"

"What is it?" he faced her.

"You said that the hacker remotely operated the rifle for both shootings, correct?"

"That's right. It was breached sometime last night and used to kill Grim. The reason it never fired at police during their investigation was because the hacker deactivated the weapon's systems, or in other words 'turned it off'. I assume it was to prevent the gun from being discovered in order to preserve the closed room mystery they had worked so hard to create. But then, for whatever reason, the hacker took control of the weapon again this afternoon and fired at you. It was quite the foolish move, since that act alone was what revealed the rifle's existence to the investigators."

"But that begs the question," Phoenix said, " _why_ would they aim the gun at Dona?"

"Mr. Wright…" the girl murmured quietly. "Do you remember what I was talking about with the Fafnir Crusaders?"

"Yeah, I do. You became an honorary member of the Valkyrie Wings because you and Brunhilde suspected that either you or Sigurd were an assassination target of theirs. Apparently someone is hiring them to kill one of you, although no one really knows why."

"Well, we weren't really sure which one of us was the actual target since both of us could have died during the construction site incident. I've been intentionally keeping my distance from Sigurd in order to isolate us and determine which one of us is being targeted. Now we have someone infiltrating a hidden rifle and aiming it at me. That tells me only one thing…"

Phoenix, Heather and Sigmund's pallor went pale as they realized what the student was getting at.

" _Y-You're_ the one they want to kill!?" the lawyer babbled in shock.

Dona looked down at the floor and murmured, "I'm afraid that's the only conclusion I can draw from this. Just as Mr. Nibelung said, someone operated the gun's controls and fired at me. They ruined the closed room mystery they had worked so hard to create by exposing the existence of the gun, but it shows that they were willing to sacrifice that plan if it meant killing me. With someone from the Fafnirs having conclusively installed the gun, namely Gippich Defekt, it shouldn't be a long stretch to imagine that the gang is still intent on killing me for their client using whatever means possible."

"Unreal…" Sigmund gasped.

Heather became far more serious than usual as she growled, "Dona DiPrima. Do you have any idea who would want to murder you?"

"I honestly don't know, detective," Dona shook her head in confusion. "I don't have any enemies that I'm aware of, nor have I had any interaction with anyone from the Fafnir Crusaders."

"Could it be because you're a member of the Valkyrie Wings gang?" Phoenix asked. "They could be trying to eliminate any potential opposition."

"I don't think that's the case. The construction site murder attempt occurred just prior to me joining the Valkyries."

"Oh… Damn," the lawyer swore, having his logic shot down so quickly. He grew increasingly worried for the girl, and he couldn't help but notice how incredibly calm she was explaining how someone was trying to end her life. If it were him, he would be frantic trying to keep his nerves under control while figuring out what the heck was going on.

 _Maybe she's trying to forcefully repress her emotions and concentrate on the investigation. I should ask Athena to do a therapy session with her and see if that's the case._

Dona asked Heather, "By the way, now that all of these factors are being exposed, how does the case against Kree stand?"

Phoenix added, "There's nothing tying her to Gippich, the Nibelung Corporation, or the Fafnirs."

Heather replied, "We're performing a background check on Kriemhilde Volsung, and we did manage to find a connection between her and the Nibelungs."

"I remember Mr. Nibelung saying that Mrs. Volsung was a childhood friend of his," Dona recalled. "Could that have anything to do with it?"

"In a way, yes. But they pursued different careers and lost touch with each other for many years. Then we found out that while Grimhilde and Sigmund were arranging the installation of the laser security system, they actually spoke of having Sigurd marry either Kriemhilde or Brunhilde when they were older."

 _Oh, that's right. Sigurd mentioned that to me before,_ Dona thought.

"Yes, that's true," Sigmund replied. "Grim and I spoke of such an arrangement. My son can be quite the playboy even at his age, and I sometimes worry that he won't be able to find a suitable wife to help him carry my company into the future."

Heather continued, "Debeste already spoke with Kriemhilde earlier, and she claimed that she was against the arrangement. Grimhilde seemed rather insistent upon it though since her company is falling on dire straits due to past lawsuits. The marriage would be so both companies could merge and produce heirs. Therefore, the prosecution will argue that Kriemhilde hatched this plan with Gippich Defekt to kill her mother in order to get out of a forced marriage."

"Oh… When I hear it like that, I wonder if Grim and I's selfish decisions forced poor Kriemhilde into such a situation…" Sigmund moaned.

"That's crazy!" Phoenix objected. "There's still nothing tying her to the murder other than her poor alibi, never mind there being no connection between her and Gippich!"

"Actually, there _is_ a connection between her and his son Gunther, the so-called 'leader' of this violent gang. They used to be boyfriend and girlfriend," Heather revealed.

"What!?" Dona yelped. "Brune never told me anything about that!"

"It was about two years ago, but Kriemhilde caught Gunther stealing money from her to gamble on some sports betting thing that he was addicted to. She dumped him immediately thereafter, and that's when he turned to his life of crime to fuel his habit."

 _Maybe that's why Brune had such a low opinion of him before,_ the student thought, then said, "That's not a very convincing connection for the prosecution…"

"True, it doesn't look like much on the surface. But think of it this way; through their relationship, she was able to meet Gippich Defekt, the man who helped design the biometric gun technology with Nibelung Corporation before turning on them. Kriemhilde must have known about the scandal because Sigmund went out of his way to plaster his face on every newspaper out there, so she could have talked with Gippich on the sly and hired him to design a gun that could kill her mother without making her suspicious. Since he's a member of the Fafnirs and they accept hit jobs, he would have done it."

"If the gun was remote controlled, is there any way for the technician to pinpoint her as the operator?" Phoenix asked.

"He's working on that as we speak," Sigmund assured. "We're going to try to repair the connection and see where it leads to. I don't know if we'll be able to do it in time for the trial though."

"Even if you found out, that still doesn't explain who tried to kill me," Dona reminded them. "Kree was at the detention center when the gun went off, so that means someone else was behind the controls."

"Perhaps for your case, it was," Heather folded her arms sternly. "But it doesn't mean that Kriemhilde didn't have the opportunity to be the operator last night. No one can corroborate her alibi about being home all night."

"It all comes back to who the rifle's real user was…" Phoenix murmured. "The investigation's at a standstill until we get those results."

"'Fraid so. Sigmund's going to work overtime to restore the network, but until that happens, there isn't much else you can find here."

"I see. I'll just have to build my case with what information we do have. Thank you both for your help, Detective Fenberry and Mr. Nibelung."

"I'm just doing my job. Nothing more than that, Mr. Wright," Heather said while eating another cranberry bar.

"Are you going to be presenting the overview during tomorrow's trial?"

"Absolutely. I can't trust anyone else to explain such a convoluted series of events to the judge."

While the three adults were wrapping things up, Dona's cell phone rung and she said, "Dona here."

" _Hey, Lil' Sis! It's Diva!"_

"How are you doing at the Prosecutor's Office?"

" _They allowed me to volunteer as Mr. Debeste's assistant for the case, although I won't be able to stand with him in court. But whatever. I'll take what I can get."_

"Have you found out much over there? We're sort of stuck until the computer technicians makes a breakthrough with this automated gun business."

" _Actually, he wanted me to have you come over right away so he can prep you for your testimony tomorrow. He_ did _tell that to you while he was over there, right?"_

"Yes, he did. Mr. Wright and I are just finishing up here, so I'll head over now."

" _Thanks, Sis! Man, you wouldn't believe how clueless this guy can be! Seriously, he kept mixing up the names of the defendant and her sister, issued an arrest warrant to the wrong department,_ and _nearly threw the forensic reports into the shredder by mistake!"_

"Really? He seemed quite capable to me," Dona mused. "Other than his habit for malapropisms, of course."

" _Just get over here ASAP before he bungles things up any further!"_ Diva pleaded before hanging up.

* * *

 **November 4, 2027**

 **4:30 PM**

 **En Route to the Prosecutor's Office**

Dona told Phoenix what was going on and asked him to drive her to the Prosecutor's Office. They left the Volsung residence and headed to the office while discussing what they understood thus far of the case. After reviewing all of the facts, Phoenix murmured, "So my argument will be that Kriemhilde had no connection with the shooting, while the prosecution will be saying that she conspired with Gippich to somehow remotely use the gun. The problem will be evidence."

"At least you know the prosecution's case is not very strong," Dona said. "They only have circumstantial evidence connecting Kree with Gippich."

"There's also nothing proving that Kriemhilde used the gun," Phoenix said. "But neither is there anything supporting her alibi. There's just too much leeway for both sides to play around with, and any actual evidence of people who are involved is scant at best."

"This has become quite the complicated case. How are you going to approach this during the trial, Mr. Wright?"

"If I can't prove Debeste's argument is flawed, then I'll have to make him present actual evidence that backs him up in order to place doubt on his case. I won't defend Kriemhilde using baseless conjecture of my own, but I will have to think about making her alibi airtight, or else indict someone else as the new culprit and provide absolute proof of their guilt."

"I suppose you have plenty of time to go to the detention center and ask Kree those hard questions. It's just a shame that I won't be able to assist you and that I will be taking the stand."

"Don't worry about it, Dona. If the court want to hear your testimony, then you should do just that."

"I assume you will be cross-examining me with that notorious determination that you're well known for breaking witnesses with, correct?"

"Ah… hah hah…" Phoenix chuckled sheepishly. "Just tell the truth and you'll be fine."

"If you insist."

* * *

 **November 4, 2027**

 **4:45 PM**

 **Prosecutor's Office**

Phoenix dropped Dona off at the Prosecutor's Office and she went inside to meet up with Diva. In the meantime, he would go to the detention center and ask Kriemhilde more questions before returning to his office and preparing his case. Dona found her sister organizing some documents for Sebastian and said, "I'm here. Can you show me where Prosecutor Debeste's office is?"

"Yeah, no prob," Diva replied and guided her to the room in question while complaining, "It's amazing how the Chief decided to have Debeste running the show for this case. Not only does he make a gazillion mistakes, but he also leaves other people to do the work for him! If he took a more active role in sorting these files, maybe he wouldn't screw things up so much!"

"People have different ways of doing things," Dona coaxed her annoyed sibling. "We can't force others to behave the way we want."

"I know that… Oh, by the way, I heard about what happened to you this afternoon! Are you doing okay? Your hair looks like a mess!"

"I'm all right, although perhaps I should have a touch-up done before taking the stand tomorrow."

"Not a problem! After you're done talking with Debeste, we'll go home and I can fix you up real nice for your performance!"

"I don't know about that…" Dona sounded a bit worried.

Diva noticed her sister's nervousness and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Nibelung confirmed that someone hacked into the rifle's computer system and used it remotely in both shootings. I think for sure that the Fafnir Crusaders are trying to kill me, so I think it would be dangerous for me to be out in the open while they're still active."

Diva didn't like that bit of news one bit. "Then are you saying you shouldn't come home with me tonight?"

"Yes, there's that. But I'm also afraid of them mistaking you for me since we look identical."

"Hmm… We should talk with Debeste about this. Maybe he can arrange for us to stay somewhere safe for the night."

The twins found Sebastian's office and entered. The prosecutor just got off the phone and greeted them with an unusually long and silent stare.

"I've arrived, Mr. Debeste," Dona bowed. "Did you want to speak with me about my testimony?"

"Um… Wait a second."

"Yes?"

"I thought something was weird about you. First I saw you here, then again at the crime scene even though I didn't bring you with me. I didn't think about it at first, but… _You two are twins!?_ "

Diva nearly pratfell as she shouted, _"You only noticed just now!?"_

"Why didn't you say anything to me!?" Sebastian exclaimed as he accidentally smacked his cheek with his baton.

"What is there to say!? One look should be enough for anyone!"

"Yeah, but-!"

"I apologize for the confusion," Dona interrupted them before their argument could escalate any further. "We are indeed twin sisters. Diva is the older one, and I am the younger one."

"Well, well! That certainly took me by surprise!" Sebastian admitted. "But at least my hunch turned out to be something inoculate."

"Innocuous!" Diva corrected him.

"Right, that. So why are both of you here? I only wanted to speak with Dona."

"Actually, there was a big issue that we wanted to talk to you about."

They told him what they had just discussed, and his expression turned grim as he said, "If it's true that Dona's life is in danger, then it wouldn't be wise for both of you to return home for tonight. I've heard it many times before where suspects kill potential witnesses to silence them. With the evidence of someone positively aiming the computerized gun at her this afternoon, I fear of the same thing happening to either of you."

"Then where should we stay for the night? At the detention center?" Dona asked.

"Are you kidding!? There's no need for you to stay in such a place! I figured that the… um, most ideal place for you would be in my office, where I can station a guard outside the locked door for the night."

"You mean in this room?" the student glanced around curiously. The only thing she could find worth sleeping on was the sofa. "Are you not worried about me going through your confidential files during the night?"

"Uh… Well, since you're the one bringing it up, I trust that you'll leave my property alone."

Diva scoffed, "Are you sure about that? We _are_ civilians after all, and access to any prosecutor's court records should be strictly off-limits."

"Well, uh… All right then. With my logic, the next best… um, ideal place for you to sleep at would be the detention center."

"We just said that!"

"Oh! … You did?"

"Geez, get it together! You need to pay attention to what other people are saying to you! An actor who can't remember his own lines is bad, but overlooking your fellow actors' lines is even worse!"

"All right, I'm sorry!"

 _Oh, brother. I'm starting to see why Diva was having such a headache with this fellow,_ Dona wanted to smack her forehead, but refrained from doing so.

"I'll arrange for one of the detention center's cells to be open to you two and to have guards stationed during the night. Will that be okay with you girls?" Sebastian asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Yes, I can't think of a more secure place," Dona said. "First you may prep me for my testimony, and then we'll acquaint ourselves with our temporary lodgings for the rest of the day."

"We oughta tell Bertie about this too," Diva recalled and called the butler on her cell phone. "Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day for the courthouse."


	18. Turnabout Wing - 8

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Trial: Part 1**

 **November 4, 2027**

 **10:00 PM**

 **Detention Center – Cell No. 2**

As per Sebastian's special request, two guards stood outside the cell that Dona and Diva had agreed to sleep in for the night to keep them safe from potential assassins. Although Diva wasn't happy with the uncomfortable arrangements, she actually fell fast asleep well before her sister did. Dona sat at the small desk reading over her many notes as she tried to make sense of this complicated case, figuring that a quick review would help her when it was her time to testify. The twins had also told Adelbert about this arrangement and he consented to leave them under police protection until the trial was over.

Dona was about to sort her files and go to bed herself, but that was when she heard a commotion coming from the entrance to the temporary cells. One officer made a handcuffed man walk toward the cell directly opposite from the girls', while other officer opened the door. They removed the cuffs from the new prisoner before locking him inside. All the while, the man raved in a heavy German accent, "You have no right to keep me here! I didn't do anyzing vrong!"

"Have you forgotten already? You're under arrest for assaulting a police officer and resisting the subpoena," one of the guards explained. "As it has been explained to you before, you do not have the right to go against a subpoena. You either testify to the court by your own free will or through prison. Since you've chosen the second option, we've had no choice but to do this the hard way, Mr. Defekt."

 _Defekt…?_ Dona widened her eyes and took a quick peek outside. She saw the newcomer's face and realized, _That's Gippich! I remember him from the dossiers that Brune gave me!_

"You clodz might hide behind your rightz and lawz and vhatnot, but vhat ze hell am I zappozed to teztify about!? I'm not related to zis caze vhatzoever!" Gippich objected.

"That couldn't be any further from the truth, Mr. Defekt. Your fingerprints were found all over the murder weapon, and there is evidence of your connection to an underground cabal that specializes in assassination jobs."

"My fingerprintz…!? Damn it!"

"Now that you understand, I suggest you calm down and consider what to say before the judge tomorrow. Your own words will decide your fate, so you should think very carefully if you don't want to be treated as a suspect."

"Hah! Your hollow zreatz mean nozing to me! My alibi iz perfect!"

"Then tell that to the courts, not me."

The stiff-faced officers left him to gasp lividly, but he eventually settled his anger and sat upon the bed with a distinct huff. Dona glanced at Gippich and wondered if she should talk to him, but his gaze met hers and he uttered, "Hey, you."

"Yes?"

"You vouldn't happen to be…? Vell, I'll be damned! It _iz_ you!" he exclaimed as if he recognized her.

She had never met this man before in person however, so she asked, "Do you know me from somewhere?"

"You're ze kid that ze bozz haz been trying to kill!"

Dona blinked and fell silent for a tense moment, then asked, "By 'boss', are you referring to Balmung, the unknown leader of the Fafnirs?"

"Yeah, zat guy. He received a huge deal from a client if he could figure out a vay to off you vhile making it look like an accident. He'z actually been pizzed off for ze lazt vhile becauze of how lucky you've been with zurviving hiz attemptz."

"So it really isn't Sigurd they're after?"

" _Nein_ , it'z you. In all honezty though, I have no clue why ze client vould want to kill a young high zchool ztudent for zuch a huge price. You must've done somezing to really tick zem off, mizzy."

"I couldn't have… I don't have any enemies that I know of…"

Gippich reclined in his bed and muttered, "Vell, zat ain't my problem. So vhat're you doing in ze zlammer anyway? Did ze cops drag you in here like zey did viz me?"

"No. It's actually for my protection. It was my own idea to stay here for the night."

He raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Zat'z pretty damn zmart of you. And, in my opinion, you really zhould ztay put here. The bozz haz been getting dezperate now that he couldn't kill you at Grimhilde's place today. Vho knowz? He might juzt zend hiz top guyz to vhack you once this mezz iz over, methodz be damned."

"So you're saying you're not Balmung?"

"Huh!? Vhere ze hell did you get zuch a crazy idea!?"

"Well… Because your son is the 'leader' of the high school members, you know about Mr. Nibelung's defunct BALMUNG program, and you caused that whole patent stealing scandal that's prevented you for working for other corporations. I thought for sure that you were the gang's real mastermind for those reasons."

Gippich suddenly looked alarmed as he sat up and mulled over what Dona said. To her surprise, he murmured, "Could _zat_ be vhat'z going on here…?"

"Is something the matter, Mr. Defekt?"

He glared at her with fierce eyes and retorted, "You might juzt be on to zomezing, mizzy."

"Meaning?"

"It'z exactly like vhen GAIM turned againzt me after I procured ze programming code for zem. Zey pleaded plauzible deniability vhile eliminating any evidenze of zem hiring me to be a corporate zpy, leaving me and a couple of innozent employeez to take ze fall for zem. Viz ze vay you're deduzing zat I'm Balmung, ze zame thing could happen again!"

"You mean as far as Balmung manipulating the case to make you his scapegoat?"

"Exactly! Damn it, vhy didn't I realize zis zooner!?" Gippich began to panic. "If only I knew vho the bozz vaz, I could figure out a vay to get out of zis mezz!"

Dona frowned. Although this man was part of a group that wanted to kill her, she also didn't want him to become a victim of some individual's insidious plot to escape justice. She asked him, "You've never met him in person?"

"Never, _fräulein_. Ve did all of our communicating zrough email and textz. I've even tried to traze ze mezzagez back, but ze bozz alwayz eliminatez ze trail. Vhoever he iz, he'z really good viz computerz."

"So you don't know what he looks like, or if he is even a 'he' to begin with. For all we know, we could be dealing with a woman."

"Right… Alzough zere vas one zing that caught my attention during all of our correzpondenze."

"What would that be?"

"He waz a rahzah meticulouz perzon vho inzizted on making zure every azpect of hiz planz vere perfect. Zometimez he vould even do the job himzelf if he didn't truzt hiz azzociatez. That'z exactly vhat he did viz Grimhilde's azzazzination. It vas a job he zet up only betveen ze two of uz."

"Mr. Nibelung said something similar about the biometric gun – that whoever hacked into it erased the trail, but he's working to restore it. There's also how the murder scenario would have looked like a impossible crime had the hacker not tried to shoot me while the police were around. Only someone with such a personality would go through those lengths to accomplish such a crime in this high-tech age. Then either through arrogance or desperation, he ruined that plan to try and kill me. It's all starting to sound like Balmung himself is the shooter for both incidents."

Gippich nodded. "You're right; the bozz inztructed me to zell and inztall a computerized rifle he had perzonally conztructed to Grimhilde, from vhich he vould hack into it and kill her at ze perfect time. No one but him knew how to break zrough ze biometric program and override it."

"So whoever has no alibi during both shootings will be Balmung."

He closed his eyes and thought deeply as several worries dominated his mind. Dona recalled something and asked him, "Didn't you say you had an airtight alibi during your argument with the officers earlier?"

"I did. You'll hear it during ze trial, but I vaz viz zome friendz at a bar zat evening."

 _Hmm… So if Mr. Defekt is to be believed, then while he is definitively guilty of being an accomplice, he couldn't have possibly committed the murder, which means that he isn't Balmung. So if he isn't, then who is?_

As Dona pondered these questions, Gippich scratched his head in a panic and groaned, "Ze bozz _muzt_ be found during zis trial! If he izn't, zen…! Damn it! Vhat have I gotten myzelf into!?"

"Are you all right, Mr. Defekt?" the student asked him, perplexed by his sudden change in behavior.

"Do you have any idea vhy I rezizted ze zubpoena in ze firzt plaze!? I vould have to talk about my criminal activitiez and expoze ze Fafnirz for vho zey really are! Zey'll definitely want to zilence me for good after talking zo much about zem! And if zey kill me, zey'll go after Gunzah as well! Damn it! If ze bozz izn't identified and arrezted for Grimhilde'z murder, zen I'm a dead man valking!"

 _Gunzah…? Oh, Gunther, his son. The guy who gambles on sports events._

"Can I ask you something about Gunther?" Dona tried to break through the man's panic by switching topics to his family. "What was he doing during both shootings?"

Gippich clenched his teeth and snarled, "Are you trying to pin ze blame on my zon now!?"

"Please don't misunderstand me. If I'm asking this question, then for sure the courts will want to know too. If your testimony is to be believed, then you and Kree are not responsible for the murder and attempted murder. Thus, they're going to want to find new suspects and prove or disprove their alibi. I think for sure they'll want to look at Gunther as a person of interest. Plus if you manage to thwart Balmung's attempt to turn you into a patsy, he might try to do it to Gunther instead."

"Ugh… Y-You're… kidding me…"

"Hypothetically speaking, of course. That might not happen at all. In the end though, learning what his alibi is will only be beneficial."

"Hypozetical, yez, but entirely pozzible. I know vhat Balmung iz like, and he vouldn't hezitate to uze hiz 'front man' like zat. To be honezt, I don't know vhat Gunzah'z been up to. Ve don't really zee eye to eye anymore ever zince hiz gambling habitz have all but made uz deztitute. Hiz mother didn't vant anyzing furzer to do viz uz finanzially, zo zhe left. I've been begging him to ztop viz hiz abzurd betting, but he keepz promizing zat he'll vin big and ve'll live in luxury zomeday. It'z gotten zo bad zat he hookz up viz girlfriendz juzt zo he can azk zem for money. He dated Kriemhilde before and zhe caught him ztealing from her, zo zhe dumped him after a nazty argument. Apparently he'z been zinking of a vay to azk her zizter Brunhilde out, but he can't becauze zhe formed a little gang of her own."

 _That's what Mr. Nibelung said about Kree, but this is the first time I've ever heard of a connection between Gunther and Brune._

"I zuppoze if ze court vantz to find out vhere he vaz, he'll have to talk viz ze judge himzelf," Gippich sighed.

"You're right. It's better to hear it from the witness himself."

He laid back in his bed and moaned pitifully, "Damn it… If only it vazn't for zat idiot'z gambling, I vouldn't have…"

Dona couldn't hear the rest of what he was saying, but she could tell that Gunther's bad habits were seriously affecting his father. She could relate with Gippich on a different level however; both of them feared for their lives from an unseen enemy, and they needed to bring this person down if they wanted to survive. She felt more compelled to solve this ever-growing mystery for both of their sakes, although she wasn't sure if there was anything she could really do to truly crack the whole thing wide open.

 _I have to wait for tomorrow's hearing. If I find even the tiniest wedge of truth seeking to be told, I'll do whatever I can to help it be heard._

* * *

 **November 5, 2027**

 **10:45 AM**

 **District Court - Hallway**

Dona and Diva spent the rest of the night sleeping at the detention center without incident. The next morning, Adelbert came to pick up Diva and escort her to the gallery, where they would watch the proceedings. Meanwhile, Sebastian summoned Dona to his office and they had their pre-trial preparation meeting, since she had a few things to testify about. Once the short meeting was over, he allowed her to wait in the hallway leading into Defendant Lobby Room No. 2, where Phoenix was meeting with Kriemhilde.

Dona gazed at the door leading into the defendant lobby room, knowing she couldn't enter because she wasn't involved with the defense team. It would be another 15 minutes before the trial began, so she bought two Swiss rolls from the over-pricey vending machine and sat down to have a snack. A few minutes later, Brunhilde turned the corner and found her friend.

"There you are," the gang leader said. "Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"I should ask the same to you. Your eyes have some serious bags under them."

"Oh, uh… Don't worry about me."

"I think I should be. You stayed up all night worrying about Kree, didn't you?"

"… Guess I can't deny it," Brunhilde frowned sullenly.

"Have you eaten?"

"S-Sure I have…"

Suddenly, a loud grumbling sound rung in their ears. Dona knew it didn't come from herself, so she stared at her friend and muttered, "Your stomach begs to differ."

"Ah hah hah… Okay, so I haven't really had much of an appetite…"

"Here," Dona offered her the other Swiss roll. "You need all the energy you can get for the trial."

"Sorry about this," Brunhilde accepted her offer and ate the roll.

After a minute of eating, Dona said, "Mr. Wright and I found out a lot during our investigation. But there were a couple of loose ends that I wanted to ask you about."

"Oh yeah? What about?"

 _She's not going to like the topic of this discussion, but here goes nothing,_ the legal student thought, then said, "We found out that Kree was dating Gunther, the supposed 'front man' for the Fafnirs, but she dumped him after finding out he was stealing money from her. Is this true?"

"Ugh…" the gang leader growled. "Guess that was gonna come up sooner or later. Yeah, Kree and Gunther were dating. But that didn't last long once she found out he stole a thousand bucks from her safe to bet on some football game. Heh, I remember the chewing out she gave him. It was freakin' epic! She told him that if he ever showed his face to her again, she wouldn't hesitate to call the police on him. Scared that coward out of his diapers, let me tell ya! He hasn't bothered us again after that."

"Hmm… So he became part of the Fafnirs in order to strike it rich another way. But then let me ask you this, and I don't want you to take it the wrong way."

"… Hey," Brunhilde glowered. "You're not gonna ask what I think you're gonna ask, right?"

"Looks like you've perceived the gist of it. Then I might as well say it; is it possible that you and Gunther dated?"

The gangster bared her teeth like she was about to eat Dona alive. "You _must_ be joking. Me and Gunther? Not in a million years! End of story! _Quid quo pro!_ "

"I believe it's _quod erat demonstratum_ you're looking for. And sorry for being so rude," Dona apologized. "Mr. Nibelung told me about how he and Kree had dated before, so I wanted to dispel the possibility…"

 _I probably shouldn't tell her that I talked with Gunther's father last night either. Who knows what kind of reaction that'll stir up._

"Nah, I know you're not trying to be mean. The idea was just totally preposterous for me, you know," Brunhilde grinned, but was obviously holding back her disgust. "Gives me the chills just thinking about it."

"By the way, I was wondering if I could ask you something else about the Defekts, if that's okay."

"If it ain't stupid like that last question, then shoot."

"What do you know about Gippich Defekt, Gunther's father? Other than him being a member of the Fafnirs, of course."

"Gippich? Hmm… Can't say I know much about the guy, other than he emigrated to this country with Mr. Nibelung and Mom at around the same time. Oh yeah, and there was the whole scandal involving him and Mr. Nibelung. Mom said it was absolutely massive, but since technology isn't my thing, I didn't really pay much attention to it."

"Did your mother have any bad blood with Gippich?"

"Not really. It's not like they were super close or anything. They were just mutual friends through Mr. Nibelung," Brunhilde mused.

"I see," Dona nodded. "Would she have any issue with inviting Gippich into your house for anything?"

"I don't see why she would have."

 _So that explains how Gippich was able to access Mrs. Volsung's house to install the biometric weapon. There was a level of trust between them as fellow German immigrants._

"Did that help with anything!?" Brunhilde asked anxiously.

"Well it cleared up a couple of things. But like I said, they were just loose ends. I don't think they'll be of much relevance to the proceedings."

"Aw, damn… So did Mr. Wright tell you how he's going to tackle the prosecution's argument?"

"All he said was that since it would be difficult to prove Kree's alibi, he would try to figure out a way to implicate someone else. I really don't know how he's going to do it though. The details of the crime were plentiful, but anything about the killer's identity is scant at best," Dona sighed. "Whoever the culprit was, they did a thorough job of erasing any trace they had of their presence."

"I still can't believe it…" Brunhilde became forlorn. "To think that Mom would install such a dangerous weapon in her own room… knowing that if either Kree or I went in there…"

"You said that your mother was almost fanatical about protecting her design secrets."

"Yeah, she was. But to endanger her own daughters like that…?"

Dona stared straight down the hallway to avert her gaze. All she could say was, "I don't know what your mother was like, so I'm not going to make any baseless assumptions. But I think her strictness about forbidding either of you from entering her room was her way of protecting you two from her own paranoia."

"You think so?"

"Maybe something stirred in her mind… Something like, 'Have I gone mad? Are my daughters going to follow the same path I'm taking in protecting my proprietary secrets?'"

Brunhilde bit her lower lip. "How can you say that with such confidence without knowing anything about her?"

Dona closed her eyes. "Remember when we found the crime scene? I was the one who tried to open the door, but it was locked with many different types of locks. We didn't try to break the door in order to preserve the crime scene, but imagine what would have happened if we did."

After a lengthy pause, the gangster student wondered, "But what about the police? They cut through the locks and went in to investigate."

"Yes, I admit that they were extremely lucky. The hacker had to turn the biometric weapon 'off' per se in order to hide its presence," the attorney student sighed in relief for Heather's men, then thought, _That might be part of why Balmung custom-made the weapon for Gippich to install._

"I'm happy that no one else was hurt from Mom's insane security gadgets," Brunhilde said. "But the hacker still reactivated the weapon and tried to kill you with it yesterday. When I first heard about it from that butler guy… Oh man, I thought my heart had turned into a boulder."

"There's nothing to fret about. I'm still alive, as you can see."

"I know, but now that we know it's you the Fafnirs are after, it's all the more reason you should be under witness protection!"

"Probably. But it's been established that whoever is the hacker will be Balmung. If we can figure out who it was behind the controls for those two shootings, then he can be unmasked and placed under arrest for murder and attempted murder. Then the police can crack down on the remaining gang members and force them to dissolve."

"How are they going to do that?"

"Have you forgotten? You gave me copies of the members' profiles, and I passed them along to Prosecutor Debeste. I'm sure if he tells the Chief Prosecutor about this, he'll order a thorough investigation of every member involved. It won't be long before they're detained, and it wouldn't have been possible without the Valkyrie Wings' research."

"So then-!" Brunhilde's eyes brightened up. "If the Fafnirs are dissolved, that means whoever hired them to kill you will have no one to hire anymore!"

"Precisely. It all comes down to figuring out who Balmung is during the trial and drawing out the name of his client from him."

"And if anyone can do it, it's the Turnabout Terror himself, Phoenix Wright!"

"See? When you think things through rationally, your anxiety begins to disappear."

"Oh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it!"

Dona looked at the clock and realized that there were only two minutes left until the trial began. She said, "Well, you better get to your seat in the gallery. I'll have to sit on the witness bench until I'm called up."

"Sure thing! Break a leg up there!"

Feeling energized and hopeful now, Brunhilde got up and hurried to the courtroom. Dona didn't have as much bounce in her own steps however as she couldn't help but think, _Even thought I said that… Is there really a guarantee that Balmung will fess up about his client? Or that he even knows who it is in the first place? After all, Gippich tried to trace Balmung's identity and couldn't get anywhere. Could the same have happened with-?_

"Whoa!"

"Ah-!"

Dona suddenly felt someone run into her, and they both went tumbling to the ground. She looked up to see who it was, finding it to be a teenaged boy about a couple of years older than her. He wore a sports jersey, a wrestler's belt, plus a set of kneepads and elbow pads. To even an untrained eye, he looked like an utter sports fanatic.

" _Mein Gott!_ Sorry about that!" he apologized and scrambled to his feet. "Holy smokes, I'm running late! The old man's gonna chew my head off if I don't make it!"

Without listening to Dona's pitiful utters for him to wait, he dashed down the hall into the same courtroom that Brunhilde entered earlier. Even so, she didn't have to ask him for his name.

 _That was Gunther Defekt. I remember him from his profile. If he ran into the same courtroom that Kree's proceedings are going to take place, then he must have heard about Gippich being arrested for resisting his subpoena._

That was when she noticed something glimmer in the corner of her eye. She found a pin in the shape of an elegant white wing.

"Did I drop this during the spill?" she asked herself and examined it closely. She reached into her pocket and retrieved her own version of the wing brooch. "Oh, that's right. Brune gave me the right wing, and this one's a left wing. It wasn't on the ground before, so it probably belongs to him. I should hold on to this for safekeeping."

She stood up, dusted her clothes off, and thought, _Alright, Dona. You have to be ready to be cross-examined by the so-called Turnabout Terror himself. Keep your mind clear and focus on telling the truth._

* * *

 **November 5, 2027**

 **11:00 AM**

 **District Court – Courtroom No. 3**

The slamming gavel indicated the start of the trial…

Although one could call this judge's gavel more of a weapon-sized hammer than a simple tool. It belonged to a female judge named Justine Courtney, one of the members of the Prosecutorial Investigation Committee and a fervent believer of the Goddess of Law.

"Court is in session for the trial of Ms. Kriemhilde Volsung," Justine announced.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor," Phoenix said. Standing beside him was a young woman that Dona remembered seeing from the Constance Courte murder trial. She looked to be about five years older than her, and she wore her long brown hair in a ponytail off to the side with a blue ribbon. Her yellow and white attire was as bright and loud as their owner's personality.

 _Athena Cykes, Juniper Woods' defending attorney… So she'll be acting as Mr. Wright's co-counsel this time around,_ Dona thought. _I wonder if he opted to have her use that gadget of hers to extract information from the witnesses. Oh, but I suppose that will include me as well._

On the opposite side of the courtroom, Sebastian declared, "The prosecution is ready, ma'am."

"Very good. Prosecutor Debeste, your opening statement please," the judge said.

"The prosecution will show that the defendant, Kriemhilde 'Kree' Volsung, murdered her mother, Grimhilde Volsung, by utilizing a weapon that had been installed behind a painting in the victim's bedroom," the prosecutor began. "This investigation has a number of complex factors that may make it difficult for the courts to follow, but my first witness will clarify things for everyone."

Heather stood before the witness stand, and Sebastian said, "Witness, your name and occupation please."

"Heather Fenberry. I'm a homicide detective who was recently deployed to the local precinct," the woman replied evenly.

"Oh, so you're new around here," Justine commented. "What did you do before coming to this city?"

The officer brandished her riding crop and smacked it against the podium. "Drill Sergeant for the Army, ma'am. I retired and moved here to become a homicide detective. But don't think for a second that I've put my experience in shaping up namby-pambys behind me! If I catch any of you slacking off, you're not going to get out of it with a slap on the wrist!"

"H-Hey, why're you looking at _me_ like that!?" Sebastian yelped nervously.

 _Could it have to do with all of the mistakes he made that Diva and Detective Fenberry complained about yesterday?_ Dona wondered.

"Yikes…" Athena muttered. "You weren't kidding about her being one scary lady, Mr. Wright."

"The police investigators were afraid of talking about her," Phoenix grumbled and sweated profusely. "She must have whipped some respect into her juniors real fast."

"If I may, detective?" Justine interrupted the former drill instructor. "Please give us a concise overview of what the police have found regarding this murder."

"Hmph! In all of my years, I have never come across something as Byzantine as this. But I suppose I'll have to start from the top," Heather muttered.


	19. Turnabout Wing - 9

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Trial: Part 2**

 **TESTIMONY: The Crime Scene**

Heather explained, "The first ones to discover the body were Dona DiPrima, Caleb Murphy, Sigurd Nibelung, Brunhilde Volsung, and the accused Kriemhilde Volsung. The victim was locked in her room and was shot in the head with a .308 caliber shotgun bullet originating from a biometric gun installed in the east side of her room. The gun has been registered to Nibelung Corporation, yet the CEO Sigmund Nibelung insists that an ex-employee of his installed it behind his back. Our basis for arresting Kriemhilde is that while the other four were confirmed to be together the whole night, she was supposedly alone. In addition, Mr. Nibelung has determined that the gun was hacked into and fired remotely. Therefore, she had the opportunity, means, and motive to commit this crime."

* * *

"You did mention that the details of this crime were 'Byzantine', correct?" Justine asked.

"That's putting it mildly," Heather muttered. "Although the prospect of a closed-room murder was debunked during the investigation, we still have ourselves the equivalent of a Rube Goldberg machine to sort out with this case."

Athena said to Phoenix, "No kidding. This is quite the mess we have to clean up if we want to prove Kree's innocence."

"Guess it's time to pick apart the detective's testimony and get the facts straight, although I'm sort of afraid of triggering her 'drill sergeant' mode if I mess things up," Phoenix groaned. "The last thing I want to do is to give her twenty for asking the wrong thing…"

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: The Crime Scene**

" **The first ones to discover the body were Dona DiPrima, Caleb Murphy, Sigurd Nibelung, Brunhilde Volsung, and the accused Kriemhilde Volsung."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ According to the autopsy report, Grimhilde's estimated time of death was 5:00 PM. Of the first ones to discover the body, the first four reported leaving the Volsung residence at 3:45 PM and returning at 8:00 PM. So what you're telling me is that for three whole hours, Kriemhilde was in the house without knowing that her mother was dead the whole time?" Phoenix asked.

"That's what she would have you believe, Mr. Wright," Heather didn't look convinced whatsoever. "The fact of the matter is that she killed her mother and intentionally left her lying in her room until her sister and her friends returned to the residence. From there, she planned to be part of the group that first discovered the body in order to avert suspicion from her. After all, it's not unheard of for the first discoverers of a crime to actually be the guilty party, right?"

"I-I'll admit that that's true… But in Kriemhilde's testimony here, she claims that if she knew about Grimhilde's death within that timeframe, she would have most definitely called the police."

"Unfortunately, we can't take stock in the words of someone who is accused of a crime. There isn't any way for either of us to prove that she was either ignorant or knowledgeable of her mother's murder during that time."

"Ugh… I suppose you're right…"

Heather smacked the witness stand with her riding crop and commanded, "That's 'Ma'am, yes, ma'am', private!"

"Ack! Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

"That's better."

"So then," Justine said, "what was the manner in which the victim was killed?"

Heather saluted, "Yes, ma'am! **The victim was locked in her room and was shot in the head with a .308 caliber shotgun bullet originating from a biometric gun installed in the east side of her room.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ " Phoenix exclaimed. "No matter how you slice it, that is utterly insane! What in the world possessed the victim to install such a dangerous weapon in her own home!?"

"Apparently she was afraid of her trade secrets being leaked to other corporations who were interested in her designs. Even though her talent as an apparel designer was unrivaled, her business sense was absolutely terrible. Do you recall the big scandal involving Nibelung Corporation and a patent thief?"

"Yes, I remember that. It was all over the papers at the time."

"Grimhilde is acquainted with the owner and she asked him to install various security measures in her home so that something similar wouldn't happen to her. Throughout our investigation, we've established that **the gun has been registered to Nibelung Corporation, yet the CEO Sigmund Nibelung insists that an ex-employee of his installed it behind his back.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ It's been proven that the gun possesses Gippich Defekt's fingerprints, and as it so happens, he was also the patent thief who stole that very same biometric technology from Sigmund and sold it to another company! If that fact was so well-known to the public, why would Grimhilde ask Gippich to install that weapon in her room if she was so cautious about patent thieves?"

"That's a surprisingly simple answer, Mr. Wright," Heather grinned. "She _didn't_."

"… What do you mean?"

Sebastian smirked as he said, "Haven't you considered the possibility that it was actually the defendant who hired Gippich to install it behind her mother's back?"

"W-WHAT!?"

"Think about it. Only his prints were on the murder weapon. It doesn't tell us anything about Grimhilde nor Kriemhilde being present when he did his work. It's only an assumption that Grimhilde was the one who contracted him."

"Ugh… But then it's also an assumption that Kriemhilde did as well… And also, how do you explain the serial numbers that were on the weapon? Sigmund managed to trace them back to one of his own products, so that means Gippich committed fraud."

"Probably to throw off Grimhilde and Sigmund's trails if either of them became suspicious. Besides, we're steering off topic here. What we need to know is whether or not it was the victim or the defendant who hired Gippich."

Athena said, "I wonder how we're going to do that. If there's nothing on the weapon tying either them to it, then maybe there was something else?"

"Some kind of clue that exists outside of the weapon? That could be a valid angle of attack," Phoenix murmured. "Let's hear what Detective Fenberry has to say first though."

Sebastian said to Heather, "So on what grounds did you arrest the defendant for the murder, Detective?"

She replied, **"Our basis for arresting Kriemhilde is that while the other four were confirmed to be together the whole night, she was supposedly alone."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ " Phoenix stopped her. "'Supposedly' alone? That's not a very compelling reason for arresting someone!"

"I'd say 'bully to you', but the fact is that she has no concrete alibi. There were no security cameras in the house, and no calls were made to the house during the evening, so you can't claim that someone talked to Kriemhilde on the phone. We did find a finished TV dinner in the trash can of the defendant's atelier, and she stated that she ate that at 6:00 PM, which fingerprints on the plastic tray corroborate."

"So there's no question that my client was home that night."

"Yeah. It means she could have done anything within that three hour period. **In addition, Mr. Nibelung has determined that the gun was hacked into and fired remotely. Therefore, she had the opportunity, means, and motive to commit this crime.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ Are there any computers in the household?"

"One in the victim's atelier, and another in the defendant's," Heather said. "Mr. Nibelung's technicians went through them both, but they couldn't link either of them as the hacker's terminal. Suffice to say, the defendant could have left the house and used another computer to do it."

Justine interjected with, "If my understanding is correct, this 'biometric gun' was used in two separate shootings; the first one claimed the victim's life, while the other was operated to fire at an innocent civilian. In that case, if the defendant really did secretly install the gun behind her mother's back and hacked into it to kill her, that doesn't explain how it was used in the second shooting. After all, Kriemhilde was at the detention center during the second shot."

Phoenix replied, "Don't forget that Gippich Defekt is a skilled technician and also part of the Fafnirs. They have a reputation for accepting hitmen jobs, so there's the possibility that someone from the gang could have used it for both shootings. After all, while there's plenty of circumstantial evidence pointing Kriemhilde as the killer in her mother's case, it's impossible to link her with the civilian's case. She has no means nor motive to try to kill the civilian. Wouldn't it stand to reason that our mystery hacker is really someone from this dangerous gang who wanted both the victim and the civilian dead!?"

Sebastian fiddled with his baton as he said, "I have to concede with Kriemhilde having no access to a computer during the second shooting. However, try thinking of it this way; she hired Gippich to install the gun, and then remotely accessed it herself during the murder. But then after her arrest, someone else took control of the gun and attempted to murder the civilian. Gippich _is_ part of a gang that does hit jobs, so he must have either done it himself or told someone else about the presence of the gun so they could use it at leisure."

"So the prosecution argues that there were actually two hackers; the defendant, and another person. Is that assertion correct?" Justine asked.

"That's the only logical conclusion I can make out of this."

Phoenix smacked his hands against the table. "But the defendant is computer illiterate, isn't she!? How could she have done something as complex as hacking into a biometric weapon system!?"

"Geez, do I have to spell everything out for you?" Sebastian sighed in consternation. "Gippich was part of the original development team that made the weapon, right? Therefore, he could have taught her how to take advantage of a backdoor to the program!"

"Urk…"

Athena grumbled, "We're not getting anywhere with this debate…"

"At this rate, we'll just be tripping over each other's feet trying to figure this mess out. What we need to do is go back to the beginning and figure out who commissioned Gippich to install the gun."

"Any ideas, Mr. Wright?"

"Hmm… I think I have one. I don't know how much good it'll do, but let's see where it takes us."

Sebastian continued, "Well, if my theory proves to be true, I'll have to order a further investigation into this barbaric gang and see what they have to say about this matter. For now, either Grimhilde or Kriemhilde hired Gippich to bring the murder weapon into the house. At this junction, I must say that it was the defendant who masterminded this heinous crime."

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Phoenix shouted. "I have to disagree with you, Prosecutor Debeste."

"Oh really? Can you show us how your client could not have hired him?"

Heather added, "The court has wasted enough time arguing about a matter that lacks concrete evidence. If you intend to stretch these proceedings longer than they should, then you'll be going through the toughest military recruit training possible!"

The attorney grinned confidently. "Don't worry, Detective. I have a way of proving that it was impossible for Kriemhilde to have ordered the gun."

"Do tell. You've suddenly put me in the mood for being humored."

"Please take a look at the diagram for Grimhilde's bedroom. Note the number of other security devices that she had Nibelung Corporation legitimately install, such as a laser system and a safe that requires her fingerprints and a passcode to open. Now recall what you told me and Dona during the investigation:

" _It's the control panel for a laser sensor system she had installed only in this room. It's disabled now, but there were invisible sensors that would trigger if anyone other than Grimhilde and any guests she inputted into the computer entered the room. It functioned using biometrics, and the only people who were registered were Grimhilde and Kriemhilde._

"It's true that Kriemhilde is registered in the system, but she also testified to the following:

" _Brune was forbidden from coming inside, but since I will be inheriting Volsung Apparel from her, Mom allowed me to enter as long as she added me as a temporary guest to the security system._

"So then it brings us to this point; I need to know if the security company ever received any warnings from the laser systems being tripped at any point," Phoenix said.

"Now that you mention it…" Heather trailed off. "One of my guys confirmed for me that Nibelung never had any issues with the Volsung residence other than the time when we broke into the room to investigate the crime, and we've cleared that issue with them."

"Well there you have it. It was impossible for Kriemhilde to have entered the room with Gippich to install the gun because she didn't know how to add herself as a guest to the bedroom's security. If she tried to enter, she would have tripped the alarm and alerted Nibelung."

"B-But-!" Sebastian jerked in frustration. "There's the chance that Grimhilde could have told her-!"

"Remember the victim's personality? She was paranoid about even her own daughters stealing and selling her trade secrets! I find it extremely unlikely that Grimhilde would have volunteered that information to my client!"

"Argh-!" the prosecutor accidentally whipped his cheek with his baton.

"Mr. Wright," Justine said. "Where are you going with this line of insight?"

"It's simple, Your Honor," Phoenix said. "It's only possible for Grimhilde to have hired Gippich to install the biometric gun without tripping the laser system. The prosecution's argument that Kriemhilde snuck the gun in behind her mother's back to use it as a murder weapon is no longer valid!"

"I see. So it's the victim who wanted the gun, not the defendant. Was Kriemhilde aware that the gun existed in the house?"

"Both she and her sister Brunhilde testified that their mother hated guns and wouldn't keep firearms in the house… Well, at least under normal circumstances. Coupled with her fear of even her daughters entering her room, it's safe to assume that she never told them about it."

"Hmm… I'm not entirely satisfied with operating on an assumption, but since the victim is unable to tell us whether she did or not, we can only base this deduction on the daughters' testimonies."

"Let me remind you that they're not inconsistent. Both of them have made the same statements even when not together, so we can accept that as the truth."

"All right then. Unless the prosecution wishes to refute, we'll have to accept the fact that Grimhilde was the client, not Kriemhilde."

Sebastian was silent for a few moments, but had to confess, "The prosecution has no counterargument regarding Gippich's client. However, I have to disagree with Mr. Wright's assertion that the defendant didn't know about the gun."

"On what grounds are you saying this?" Phoenix asked.

"We still haven't touched upon the motive for which Kriemhilde committed this crime. Remember that the Fafnirs are a well-known group by now, so she would have learned about them accepting hit jobs. Then her mother goes to Sigmund Nibelung and arranges for his son Sigurd to marry either Kriemhilde or Brunhilde after he graduates from Themis. Kriemhilde has explicitly stated that she was against the arrangement, but Grimhilde would not listen to her.

"So now we come to Kriemhilde approaching Gippich Defekt with a 'special request'; to use Grimhilde's own paranoia against her by convincing her to install a weapon in her room, then show her how to crack into its system so she can operate it at her own leisure. This was all in accordance with setting up the 'closed room murder' scenario that Detective Fenberry and her boys were first presented with."

 _You've got to be kidding me! There's no way my client would want to associate with the Defekts after what Gunther did to her while they were dating! But I can't raise that kind of objection without proof. There must be a way to debunk Debeste's theory!_

"What's wrong, Mr. Wright? Have my deductions left you speechless?" Sebastian bowed. "I don't blame you. Even Mr. Edgeworth was at a loss for words at times."

"Now hold on a minute!" Athena violently smashed her palms on the table. "That doesn't explain what happened during the second shooting! Not only was Kriemhilde in police custody at the time, but there's absolutely nothing connecting her to the victim of that case!"

"I admit, that has me a little puzzled as well, Ms. Psych."

"It's Cykes!"

" _Get it right, you lousy buffoon!"_ Widget, the device that functioned as Athena's bracelet and blurted whatever she was thinking, exclaimed in a tinny voice.

"But let's look at it this way," he ignored the irate attorney. "What if we're not dealing with just one suspect… but _two_?"

"An interesting prospect," Justine agreed. "There's no other way the circumstances can make sense unless we invoke a second culprit. What does the defense have to say to this?"

Phoenix replied, "Even if we want to involve a second culprit in this case, we still have to understand how they would know about the gun, and why they would try to kill an innocent civilian during the investigation. If your theory _was_ true, then our second culprit ruined the closed room murder plan by revealing the existence of the gun."

"Ah, speaking of which, we haven't discussed who the victim of the second shot is, right?"

"That's right, Your Honor," Heather interjected. "Aside from the Grimhilde Volsung murder, we've had to investigate the circumstances surrounding the second shooting as a separate case. It's been rather difficult keeping both cases apart when the crime scene is the same room. Fortunately, I've collected samples of the victim's singed hair, tiny traces of blood, and the bullet that had broke through the window and lodged into a tree."

Justine parsed over the new evidence, then remarked, "My goodness. And this is from a .308 caliber shotgun round?"

"Yes. Whoever the hacker was, they adjusted the gun's angle slightly down and to the left of its original position when it was used to kill Mrs. Volsung. This was obviously to compensate for the second victim's shorter height and different position."

Sebastian added, "Luckily for us, the shot missed the victim, albeit by millimeters. She's agreed to testify about her situation and how it relates to the murder the previous night."

"Very well," Justine said. "Bailiff, please summon the next witness."

Throughout the entire trial, Dona watched in bated silence while anticipating her turn on the witness stand. Now that it had arrived, the officer escorted her to the stand.

"So that's her?" Athena asked Phoenix quietly. "She's the student who helped you investigate yesterday?"

"Yeah… She's extremely lucky to be alive."

"Witness," Justine said, "please tell us your name and occupation."

"Dona DiPrima," the girl replied with an even, professional tone. "I am a freshman of the defense attorney course at Themis Academy. That would make me the equivalent of a ninth grade high school student."

"Oh, my! So you're studying to be an attorney like Mr. Wright here?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Forgive my rudeness, but I never would have expected someone so young to be the victim of such an unexpected murder attempt. Might I ask for your age, Ms. DiPrima?"

"I just turned 13 two weeks ago."

"Hmm… To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure why someone would try to kill you… Just to clarify, are you certain that you're the target of an assassin of some kind?"

Dona pensively scratched her chin as she explained, "I wasn't sure at first when the girder incident happened. But the second shooting made it proof positive that I was the intended target."

"What exactly do you mean by the 'girder incident'?"

Sebastian explained, "She's talking about back in early September when a girder at the new mall that's under construction fell onto the sidewalk after gangsters vandalized the cable holding it up. She and Sigurd Nibelung were both victims of that case, but they came away unscathed. These are the news articles I compiled for that incident. As luck would have it, the gangsters who vandalized the girder happened to be part of the Fafnirs – the same group that Gippich Defekt is a member of."

"I've read the case file about that as well," Phoenix said. "The gangsters confessed that it was a hit job they tried to disguise as an accident. No one was sure if the target was Dona or Sigurd at the time."

"I see," Justine closed her eyes in contemplation. "Since Sigurd was not on the premises at the time of the second shooting, that cemented Ms. DiPrima's theory that she was the desired victim. In other words, someone has hired the Fafnirs to kill her on their behalf."

Dona couldn't find the words to reply to such a profound statement. Everyone could ask her a million times who and why someone would want to murder her, and her answer would always be the same; she had absolutely no idea.

"Well then, let's get to the bottom of this second mystery if we want to expand on the first one," Sebastian said. "Ms. DiPrima, can you testify as to the events involving the girder falling on you and Sigurd?"

"Certainly," Dona said. She glanced over at the defense team, knowing fully well that they were ready to grind her into the ground for more information.

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: The Girder 'Accident'**

"That day after school, Sigurd told me about how the Fafnir Crusaders were claiming territory recently. He offered to walk me home as a safety precaution, and we intended to pass by the construction site as a detour. We heard the cable snap above us, and noticed the girder falling upon us. Sigurd got himself out of the way, but I was rescued by Brunhilde Volsung, the defendant's sister. She chased down some gang members immediately afterward and apprehended them, where they confessed to cutting the cable."

* * *

 _Hmm… There don't seem to be any inconsistencies with her statement. Everything she said has been documented in police records,_ Phoenix thought. _Even so, I should still prod her for more details._

"Mr. Wright," Athena said. "Do you think you could let me handle the cross-examination?"

"What for?"

"Well, there seemed to be something 'off' about what she just said."

"Something was 'off'? You mean with the facts?"

"No… I think something's wrong with her heart."

Phoenix's expression became serious. "What do you think is wrong with her heart? Is there some kind of out-of-control emotion that she's suppressing?"

"I don't think so," she read through the projected digital display. "She's actually very calm… Maybe a bit _too_ calm, considering she's the target of an assassin. I'm not picking up any emotions in her words that one would normally display after being exposed to such trauma."

"Seriously? Why would that be?"

Athena said to the judge, "Your Honor, the defense requests to perform a therapy session for the witness. I believe that she has been so traumatized by the prospect of being the target of hitmen that her heart has been closed to the world, and thus she cannot testify clearly."

"A therapy session, you say?" Justine wondered. "I had heard rumors of an attorney demonstrating such a capacity in the past. I suppose that attorney happens to you, Ms. Cykes. Your thoughts, Prosecutor Debeste?"

"Hmm…" Sebastian tapped his baton against his arm. "Well, the defense's logic about Ms. DiPrima being targeted by a murderous gang is sound. But during my pre-trial meeting with her, she didn't seem agitated or bothered that much. She was certainly perpel… purplex… confused as to who would want her dead, but not once did I see her panic. I suppose it's up to the witness if she wishes to proceed."

"If it is part of the defense's cross-examination procedure, then I suppose I'll have to submit to protocol," Dona said coolly.

 _N-No, it's not part of normal procedure…_ Athena thought sourly. _But if that gets me her permission, then I won't look a gift horse in the mouth._

"All right then," Justine said. "You have the blessing of the Goddess of Law to proceed, Ms. Cykes."

Athena nodded, then pressed a button on Widget and projected a screen that went from 0% to 100% to represent the discord in Dona's emotions.

* * *

 **MOOD MATRIX: The Girder 'Accident'**

" **That day after school, Sigurd told me about how the Fafnir Crusaders were claiming territory recently."**

"I don't see any notable emotions with this statement," Athena murmured. "It must have been just another ordinary day for her at this point."

" **He offered to walk me home as a safety precaution, and we intended to pass by the construction site as a detour."**

"Their path does take them away from territory that the gangsters had used as hideouts."

" **We heard the cable snap above us, and noticed the girder falling upon us."**

"Look, the sad and surprise indicators are blinking," Phoenix said.

"She was panicking when she saw the danger she was in. But this is the part that bothers me…"

"Let's look at the rest of the statement first before pressing her."

" **Sigurd got himself out of the way, but I was rescued by Brunhilde Volsung, the defendant's sister."**

"Now surprise and happy are blinking," Athena said. "That indicates a great deal of relief that she was rescued. But the signals are still at the same strength as in the previous statement."

" **She chased down some gang members immediately afterward and apprehended them, where they confessed to cutting the cable."**

"Now she's just surprised."

"Brunhilde did run off immediately afterwards, so Dona must have had no clue what was going on," Phoenix said.

"Alright, Ms. DiPrima," Athena said to the witness. "I think I know what the problem is."

"Problem? But I've given you all the facts that I'm aware of," the student protested.

"You're only giving us the surface truth. You're not being honest with your emotions."

"Meaning?"

"When you said 'we noticed the girder falling on us', you were both shocked and frightened. But according to the Mood Matrix, the strength of your emotions doesn't coincide with that kind of situation. The response is much too weak compared to how someone else would react."

"Ms. Psych, may I ask where you're going with this line of questioning?" Sebastian shrugged. "As it stands, this has nothing to do with the case."

"Well I beg to differ!" Athena pointed at him. "Dona, I don't doubt that you're telling the truth, but I think you're not telling us the _complete_ truth!"

"You're going to have to elaborate, because I fail to see what you're getting at," Dona replied.

"All right then! The reason you're not so surprised and scared at narrowly avoiding death… _is because it's happened to you before!_ "

"W-WHAT!?" Phoenix, of all people, yelped uncontrollably.

"What nonsense is this!?" Sebastian demanded, inadvertently whipping his cheek with his baton. "Are you telling me that these two incidents aren't the only ones she's been involved in!?"

"It's the only explanation for her lack of shock and horror at nearly being crushed to death!" Athena argued. "She must have had similar experiences in the past!"

"Well, Ms. DiPrima?" Justine asked the girl, who had fallen into an eerie silence. "Is Ms. Cykes' claim correct?"

She spent a tense minute thinking of what to say. Everyone in the courtroom was expecting some kind of dramatic breakdown or epic spectacle of rampant emotions coming from her. To their surprise, Dona remained unfazed as she responded, "I never thought my emotions would betray me like this. It seems I have no option but to confirm her suspicions."

Athena shuddered. "So, then-!?"

"… To be honest, my instincts were telling me that I was the target the moment it happened. I just didn't want to rush to conclusions without being certain. You see, I was subject to similar life-threatening experiences that often required medical attention throughout my childhood."

"Well I'll be!" Justine uncharacteristically exclaimed. "So you're saying that the Fafnirs targeting you is but only a recent addition to these events?"

"Yes."

"Do you recall the first incident that you were involved in?"

"Not vividly, since I was only five years old at the time."

"F-F-F-FIVE!?" Athena shrieked and dropped her jaw in astonishment.

"Are you seriously telling us that you've been someone's target for almost 10 years!?" Phoenix gasped. "Why!? What in the world could a five-year old kid do to spark such bloodlust!?"

"I don't know," Dona murmured. "But ever since then, I've always looked over my shoulder for any potential danger. That may explain the reduced amount of shock and fear that Ms. Cykes witnessed in her device – these two attempts are but just further additions to my mysterious caseload. In any case, that explains why the Fafnirs set up the girder incident, and may also tie them with the attempted shooting murder. After all, it was Gippich Defekt who set it up, and we all know his ties to the gang."

"That's right. We talked about it at the Volsung residence. Either he shot you himself, or it was perpetrated by another member while Kriemhilde was in custody."

"Okay, I've updated the Mood Matrix with this new information," Athena said as she ran some checks on her projected monitor. "But there's still some discord remaining. There has to be something else she's not telling us."

"I wonder what it could be… Let's review the updated statement."

Everything was the same until it reached, **"We heard the cable snap above us, and noticed the girder falling upon us,"** then a new statement was added:

" **This didn't surprise me, since I've been someone's target for almost ten years."**

"There. That'll fill in the blanks with her fear and surprise," Athena confirmed.

" **Sigurd got himself out of the way, but I was rescued by Brunhilde Volsung, the defendant's sister."**

"Surprise and happy are blinking the same as before."

" **She chased down some gang members immediately afterward and apprehended them, where they confessed to cutting the cable."**

"And she's still just shocked here."

"Does anything stand out to you?" Phoenix wondered, since he looked completely stumped.

"Hmm… One thing seems to bug me. It's when she was happy about being rescued by Brunhilde. One would expect their happiness to be at a much more elevated level, yet the signal is still as weak as the rest of them. Why would she not be as thrilled about being saved?"

"That _does_ sound strange…"

Athena said to Dona, "You heard what we were talking about, right?"

"A little. Something about 'happiness' and 'not being thrilled', or something to that effect."

"Yeah. When you testified about Brunhilde saving your life, you indeed showed some happiness. But normally, people act way more grateful toward their saviors, like they want to hug then tight and cry over their shoulder. Did you actually not appreciate what she did for you?"

"Now you're entering the realm of insanity, Ms. Cykes, and I am most certainly not part of it," Dona glared at her. "I indeed felt gratitude for Brune rescuing me, just like anyone would. It was just like the first incident that occurred to me when I was five."

"What happened then?"

"A car almost ran me over, but someone got me out of the way in time."

"Do you remember who it was?"

"Not clearly. All I remember is that it was a young adult male, probably in his early 20s. Anyway, after I was told what happened, I felt very happy about him saving me. It's exactly the same with Brune. The only problem is that I have trouble properly expressing my emotions."

"Trouble expressing your emotions?" Athena wondered. The psychologist in her sparked to life as she asked, "Does it have to do with how mild your happiness appears on the Mood Matrix?"

"I think so. I've always reacted to various events with an unusually calm demeanor. People have told me that I'm 'cool as a cucumber' in tough situations, yet also complain that I don't smile that much."

"I see… I never thought I'd get to see this…" the young attorney said to Phoenix. "But apparently, Dona is suffering from reduced affect display. Basically, it means that she has a large degree of reduced emotional responses to the world around her."

"So you're saying it's something like apathy?"

"No, not quite. Apathy is the complete lack of emotions. She still has emotional responses, but they have been severely blunted compared to the normal responses one would experience during such a traumatic event. Not only does that explain why the surprise indicator was so weak when she talked about the girder falling upon her, but it also shows why the happy indicator was also so dim."

"So what causes this disorder?"

"There are a few known causes such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress order, or brain damage. She has to have either one or more of these causes."

Dona stared at the attorneys while they spoke to one another, then asked, "Is there anything else you would like to ask me?"

"I just have one question," Athena said. "This therapy session has determined that you have reduced affect display, meaning your emotional responses to external stimuli and events are much weaker compared to a normal person's. Were you aware of this diagnosis?"

"Yes, I was."

"Do you know why you have this disorder?"

The student narrowed her eyes and asked, "Is this line of questioning going to be relevant to the trial?"

"Well… Um…"

"If it isn't, then I fail to see why I should respond."

"Indeed," Sebastian remarked. "We're here to discuss about Grimhilde Volsung's murder and the attempted murder of the witness. Whatever illness the witness may have, it has nothing to do with these proceedings. All that matters is that she survived both attempts, but does not know who would have the motive to kill her."

"Ugh… Mr. Wright…?" Athena groaned.

"I hate to say this, but he has a point. If we keep on persisting in this line of questioning, we'll be accused of badgering the witness," Phoenix said. "Since there's nothing else she can offer, we'll have to stop the cross-examination here."

"Aw, geez. And I really wanted to find out what was wrong with her. But if that's how it is, then it can't be helped. Her discord has also been resolved, so there's nothing more she's keeping from us."

The Mood Matrix showed 0%, and Widget's smiling face was accompanied by a 'BYE BYE' message before vanishing.

"Very well," Justine nodded. "I can assume that these new facts apply to the attempted murder, yes?"

"It's the only logical conclusion," Dona said. "My case has overlapped with the murder due to the murder weapon and the unusual method in which it was used. Furthermore, Kriemhilde and I had never met prior to any of this, so there's no possible way that she could have a motive for my attempted murder."

"Well, there is _one_ possibility left," Sebastian offered.

"What now!?" Phoenix exclaimed in frustration. "Other than her knowing Gippich as an acquaintance, there's nothing else tying them together!"

"Now hold your horses there. We still haven't discussed the idea of Kriemhilde actually being part of the Fafnirs as well!"

"What in the-!? Where did you get such an insane idea!?"

"Well, it all adds up if they're accomplices from the same gang, right? Kriemhilde knows Gippich through association, approaches him with her request, and we know the rest from there."

"But that's-!"

" _ **OBJECTION,**_ " Dona called out from the witness stand before Phoenix could do so. "I'm afraid there's evidence that speaks in contrary to your hypothesis, Prosecutor."

Sebastian frowned hard. "What are you talking about?"

"Have you forgotten about the list of profiles for the Fafnirs that I gave you? It was the result of the Valkyrie Wings' extensive research into their members and crimes that they wanted to give to the police."

"The list of…? Oh-!"

"I think you understand what I'm trying to say. You saw for yourself that Kriemhilde was not on the Fafnirs' list of members."

"But maybe the Valkyries missed her or something!"

"That's out of the question. How could the leader of the Valkyries, Brunhilde Volsung, completely miss the fact that her own sister was part of a rival gang?"

"Ack-!" The bewildered prosecutor nearly fell over.

Justine shook her head. "If there is no evidence tying the defendant to this dangerous gang, then such an accusation amounts to nothing more than baseless conjecture. If either side wishes to present a theory, they must do so with solid evidence. The Goddess of Law cannot pass judgment until all facts have been clearly presented, and time must not be wasted debating empty logic. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Debeste?"

"Y-Yes, Your Honor… The prosecution wishes to strike all related comments from the record…"

Phoenix scratched his chin and thought, _Wow. Now I'm starting to feel really bad for him. His case was pretty weak at best, and now a witness essentially told him to stop wasting everyone's time. His confidence must be shot by this point. I still need to stay on my toes and watch out for a potential comeback from him though._

Dona asked Justine, "Is there anything else that the court wishes for me to testify about?"

"No, my dear. Thank you for your time, and the Goddess of Law waits in anticipation for you to appear as a competent defense attorney in these hallowed halls of justice sometime in the future," the judge thanked her.

"Then if you will excuse me," the girl said and stepped down from the witness podium. While walking back to her seat, she caught a glimpse of Athena staring at her, but immediately averted her eyes once their gazes met.

 _She must be chomping at the bit to figure out why I have this emotional disorder. But if it's irrelevant to the current proceedings, then I'm not obligated to explain anything to her._


	20. Turnabout Wing - 10

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Trial: Part 3**

"So, now that we understand the details behind both shootings, it is about time we started tying everything together," Justine announced. "From what I can understand, there is only one concrete link that needs further deliberation on."

"What would that be, Your Honor?" Phoenix asked.

"Namely this fellow, Gippich Defekt. The victim granted him access to her tightly secured room to install the security gun, and is also a part of the gang that was responsible for Ms. DiPrima's near-fatal construction accident."

Sebastian bowed and waved his baton as he said, "Fortunately, I have taken the liberality to have Mr. Defekt take the stand to hear his explanation. He was arrested for resisting the subpoena however, so I have a feeling there is much he's trying to hide from us."

"An interesting conclusion, Prosecutor Debeste. Let us pray that it isn't as hollow as your previous deductions have been lately."

"O-Of course, ma'am! Bailiff! Bring the next witness!"

The officer left to retrieve Gippich from his detention cell, then made the irate man stand upon the podium.

"Witness," Sebastian said, "state your name and occupation."

"Fie! Vhy zhould I do zuch a zing vhen I have done nozing vrong, Herr Dummkopf!"

"Herr… what?"

Athena chortled, and Phoenix asked, "What did he say?"

"He just called him a blockhead."

"I am not anzwering any kveztionz you lot may have!" Gippich continued angrily. "I zhall exercize my right to remain zilent! Nozing you fools zay can make me change my-!"

" _ **OVERRULED!"**_

Justine commanded for the witness' silence by slamming her hammer-like gavel upon the ground. She then put a finger to her lips as a gesture for quiet, then said, "First of all, I will not accept unreasonable sound and fury in my courtroom. As a servant of the Goddess of Law, I demand that you calm your nerves and behave in a rational manner."

"I… I am zorry, Frau Vorsitzende. I am kvite fluztered, iz all. But I do not vish to incriminate myself ze vay I did in that zcandal I cauzed zeveral yearz ago."

"I understand. You've had some difficult times in the legal world before. It is your right to refuse to speak if you are under threat of self-incriminating yourself. But I would remind you that refusing to provide testimonial evidence outside the confines of your constitutional rights is also considered an obstruction of justice."

"Zen vould I be held in contempt?"

"I am afraid so. I would strongly recommend that you reconsider your silence in this matter. Not only would you be found in contempt of court, but the prosecution's evidence will be doing the talking in your stead, and it would be disastrous for you if the evidence were to be misinterpreted as proving your guilt instead."

"Zat would be mozt dire indeed… I can only take zo many falze accuzationz in ziz zhort life I have," Gippich frowned hard.

"Let me ask you then; are you willing to reconsider your refusal to testify?" Justine asked.

"Ja, Euer Ehren. I zhall testify to ze bezt of my ability, zo long az I am not fingered az ze culprit by ze defense."

"Well," Phoenix scratched his chin, "I'll let your testimony be the judge of that."

"Now then. Let's take this from the top, shall we?" Justine's pristine, divine smile returned as she held her gavel. "Witness, your name and occupation, please."

"Gippich Defekt. I'm a former computer technizian for Nibelung Corporation, but am now unemployed."

Sebastian asked, "Did you join the Fafnir Crusaders gang due to your financial status?"

"Az loathe az I am to admit it, my zon and I are in dezperate timez. Crime may not pay, but billz do not pay zemzelvez either. I have been conzcripted to work as a technizian for zeir needz, and my zon haz become a front man for zem. It iz all Zigmund'z fault for tarnishing my good name viz hiz zmear campaign, and no one iz villing to hire me anymore!"

"I see. From the course of this trial, we've proven that you were present at the Volsung residence in order to install a biometric turret in the victim's bedroom as an extra safety precaution."

"Ja, Herr Dummkopf. I know about ze fingerprintz on ze veapon."

"Was this really Grimhilde's request, or was it actually one of your gangster superiors that ordered you to convince her to install it?"

"Ugh… It vaz… I… I can tell you all, but I juzt know ze Bozz vill kill me for talking…"

Phoenix interjected, "So what you're implying is that it was actually an order from your Boss. I believe he goes by the code name Balmung, right?"

"Zat's right, Herr Stachelschwein."

"Err… Athena?"

"Hee hee. You're 'Sir Porcupine'," the younger lawyer grinned.

"Oh… kay… Anyway, this was part of your superior's plan to kill Grimhilde by hacking into that gun's computer system and operating it remotely."

"Vell!" Gippich sounded surprised. "If you have deduzed zat much, zen I zee little reazon to explain myzelf much furzer zan zat."

"So if that's the master plan behind this scheme, then it all comes down to who gave the witness that order," Justine surmised. "Mr. Debeste, does the prosecution still retain its stance that it was the defendant who arranged for this?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Sebastian said and held some papers before him. "It's true that the defendant had no means of being involved with the actual installation. But that doesn't tell us anything about whether or not she met him outside of the Volsung residence at some point before he met with the victim. Remember, the Fafnirs are sort of like hitmen who take on assassination jobs as their primary source of income. It is entirely possible that Kriemhilde met with Gippich in secret and hired him to carry out this plan.

"Furthermore, there's another connection between Kriemhilde and Mr. Defekt's son, Gunther. In the past, they were dating each other for a short while. But that's not too surprising considering that Grimhilde, Gippich and Sigmund Nibelung were friends back in Germany and had emigrated here at around the same time."

"So you're saying it was an inevitability that their children would come to interact with one another," Justine said.

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Phoenix rebutted. "My client discovered that Gunther was stealing money from her, and she broke up with him. I sincerely doubt the prosecution's theory that she colluded with Gippich given her bad history with his son."

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ This isn't about her and Gunther's past relationship! It's about her current client-killer relationship with Gippich!"

"But why would she just spontaneously overlook Gunther's misdeeds in favor of planning this crime out with his father!? That makes no sense whatsoever!"

"Then let's review a little something that came up in Kriemhilde's affairs. Namely, that Grimhilde wanted to have her marry Sigmund Nibelung's son, Sigurd, after he graduated from Themis Legal Academy. Kriemhilde didn't want any part of this arranged marriage, and she verbally expressed that to her mother as well, but she wouldn't listen. The victim's company, Volsung Apparel, is apparently falling on hard times, so this arrangement was primarily for financial benefit.

"So the defendant learns about a gang that will take hit jobs and comes upon the idea to use her own mother's paranoia against her. Since Kriemhilde knew Gunther, it stands to reason that she knew Gippich, his profession, and his connection with said gang. All she had to do was meet up with Gippich and tell him her plan, then he'd talk about it with this Balmung character and set up the scene of the crime in order to create a closed room murder, thus eliminating their client from the list of suspects.

"In conclusion, the defendant killed her mother to get out of a forced marriage and inherit her business and assets. Does that sound about right, Mr. Defekt?"

"Ja, Herr Dummkopf. Zat zoundz about right," Gippich said.

 _Baloney! The witness is flat out lying about his connection with Kriemhilde!_ Phoenix thought angrily. _But if I don't find a way to prove that there's nothing between them, then Debeste can cast reasonable doubt on her alibi and motive! Think, Phoenix, think!_

"Are you okay, Boss?" Athena asked him worriedly. "You're sweating buckets over there!"

"Argh! Athena, do we have any evidence that could help us out here!?"

"Er… Not that I can think of… We only have evidence from the scene of the crime. There's nothing to do with what could or couldn't have happened outside."

"It's obvious that Debeste is making up his theories as he goes along, but that last one is proving to be a real sucker punch. It's a Devil's Proof that the witness is totally buying into to make it seem credible!"

"I wonder if this little 'turnabout' of theirs was planned all along."

"I don't know. Maybe the witness is just agreeing in order to avoid incriminating one of his gang buddies. Better for him to let an innocent person take the fall than to look bad to his so-called 'Boss'."

"Is there anything we can do, Mr. Wright!?" Athena tensed up. "We have to show that Kree had nothing to do with the witness!"

"The only thing we can do is stall for time…"

"Time? For what?"

Phoenix slammed his hands on the table and protested, "Your Honor! While the prosecution's theory may cause reasonable doubt, we also still need to hear from the computer technicians concerning where the hacker infiltrated the murder weapon from!"

"Are you saying that the defense has no other evidence to rebuke my argument?" Sebastian asked with a cocky grin. "That's rather honest for you, considering that you're the King of Bluffs, Mr. Wright."

 _Not exactly a title I'm proud of, but I have to keep pressing on until those results come in!_

"Mr. Defekt!" the flustered attorney exclaimed. "Did you or did you not meet with the defendant outside of the Volsung residence at any point in time!?"

"Ja, Herr Stachelschwein. I have met ze fraulein on multiple occazionz," Gippich replied.

"And when exactly were those occasions?"

"Are you trying to drag out unnecessary testimony from him, Mr. Wright?" Sebastian asked.

"I believe it was the prosecution who called him up here in the first place, Mr. Debeste. Didn't you summon him here to testify about his involvement, or did you just need someone to make your half-baked idea credible?" Phoenix grinned.

"That's some lip you've got there!"

 _You're the_ _ **last**_ _person I want to hear that from!_

"Well now," Justine intervened. "I think it is vital that we hear about the times the witness has met the defendant prior to him being hired by the victim for his installation job."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: Meeting Kriemhilde Before**

Gippich said, "Az you already know, ze fraulein vaz acquainted viz my zon, Gunzah. Zey dated for about a year, zo I had numerouz opportunitiez to zee her come and go. Zen zhe found zat dummkopf ztealing money from her, zo zhe dumped him after kvite ze fierze argument! Alzough zhe doez not zpeak viz him anymore, zhe ztill haz converzationz viz me once in a vhile. Zhe told me about her zituation viz her mothah, zo I agreed to help her in any vay I could."

* * *

"Hmm…" Justine murmured. "As interesting as your past history with Kriemhilde sounds, that doesn't tell me much about planning the crime itself."

 _I don't know if I can draw any useful information out of him, but this is just to buy us time,_ Phoenix thought. _Maybe I actually can establish that they're just acquaintances through Gunther and debunk the prosecution's claims, but I better not rely on what this guy says too much._

"Very well then. Mr. Wright, your cross-examination, please."

"Yes, Your Honor."

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: Meeting Kriemhilde Before**

" **Az you already know, ze fraulein vaz acquainted viz my zon, Gunzah."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ How did Ms. Volsung come to know Gunther?" Phoenix asked.

"Az I am Grimhilde's friend from our mother Deutschland, it iz not unreazonable to fazom zat our kidz vould be ackvainted viz each ozer. Ja, ze zree of uz vere a tight zircle of friendz back in zoze dayz," Gippich explained.

"The three of you? Who was the other person?"

"Vhy, Zigmund Nibelung, of courze. Ve all emigrated to ziz country at around ze zame time."

"I see. So is Gunther also acquainted with Mr. Nibelung's son Sigurd?"

"Zat's right. Zey have been good friendz for agez, even zough Gunzah is a few yearz older zan Zigurd. My zpat viz Zigmund did not deter zeir friendzhip in ze zlightezt, vich I find kvite remarkable."

"Do you know if Kriemhilde was well acquainted with Sigurd as well?"

"Nein, not zat I know of. Zigmund gave birz to Zigurd kvite a while after Grim and I had our kidz, zo Kree iz too old to be friendz viz Zigurd. I'm zure zhe must have refuzed her mother'z demandz to marry him becauze of zeir age differencez."

"All right. So your children aren't quite as close to each other as you three were. So how long did my client date your son?"

" **Zey dated for about a year, zo I had numerouz opportunitiez to zee her come and go.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ What exactly do you mean by 'numerous opportunities, Mr. Defekt?" Phoenix asked.

"Gunzah vould bring her to my houze, of courze. I alzo knew her kvite vell az zhe grew up, zo zhe vaz able to talk viz me openly about any problemz zhe vaz having viz Grim. Az you already know, her mothah vaz always having argumentz viz Kree about truzting her viz her dezign ideaz. To be perfectly honest viz you, Grim'z zenze of dezign vaz alwayz louzy, but Kree had a natural talent for it. Zometimez I vould call Grim and try to convinze her to truzt Kree, but zhe vould never lizten."

"So getting back to the main topic at hand, did Kriemhilde ever recommend that you employ your services to help Grimhilde out?"

"Vhat exactly do you mean by my 'zervicez'?" Gippich raised an eyebrow.

"As in installing that dangerous piece of artillery in the master bedroom? What else could I mean?" Phoenix muttered sourly.

"Ah, you mean zat piece of buzinezz. Yez, vhen I vaz ztill vorking viz Zigmund, Kriemhilde vould azk me if zere vaz anyzing I could recommend to her mothah."

"What about after you were fired and joined that killer gang?"

"Hmm… Let me zink…" the dubious witness closed his eyes and appeared to be pondering. "My memory iz kvite hazy ever zince **zhe found zat dummkopf ztealing money from her, zo zhe dumped him after kvite ze fierze argument.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ How did Kriemhilde find out about Gunther stealing money from her?" Phoenix asked.

"Juzt like Grim haz a zafe in her room, zo did Kree. Gunzah muzt have figured out ze code and broke into her zafe to zteal her money."

"But why not put that money in a bank?"

"Grim did not truzt bankz eizer. Zhe believed zey vere thievez and did not vant to leave her azzetz in zeir care."

"Geez, talk about paranoid…"

"Ja, but Grim vaz alwayz like zat ever zince zhe vaz a kid. Anyway, Kree uzed a zecurity camera to catch Gunzah in ze act and zhowed it to boz of uz to prove her point. Oh, you vould not believe how angry I vaz viz him! He had already gambled all of it away on his ztupid zportz betting hobby, zo I had to pay her back if I didn't vant Grim on my caze! Kree promized to keep kviet about ziz zo long as Gunzah ztayed away from her."

"So she severed all ties with Gunther and continued practicing her craft with her mother."

" **Alzough zhe doez not zpeak viz him anymore, zhe ztill haz converzations with me once in a vhile.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ She still keeps in touch with you despite that?"

"Zhe ztill needed zomeone to complain to about her mothah, ja?"

Athena slammed her palm on the table and exclaimed, "You still haven't answered as to whether or not Kree hired you to help her kill her mother!"

"Don't be abzurd, Frau Küken."

"Argh…"

"What'd he call you?" Phoenix whispered.

"A 'spring chicken'…"

"All zhe did vaz **tell me about her zituation viz her mothah, zo I agreed to help her in any vay I could."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ " Phoenix was growing more and more impatient at this point. "You're not answering the question! Did you or did you not conspire with my client to kill her mother in a closed room murder!?"

"Vell, you'll have to forgive me for my hazy memory, Herr Stachelschwein. I am involved viz a group of people who take on all zortz of murder-for-hire zchemez, zo you cannot expect me to remember every zingle one of zem."

"But it's proven that you installed the gun. You have to remember what transpired to make _that_ happen!"

"Vhat I do recall is zat ze Bozz zent me a detailed email dezcribing a job vhere Grim vaz ze target. He told me to convinze her to put in zat weapon on ze zly and uze Nibelung's tracking numberz to zrow ze polize off ze trail and make Zigmund ze zuzpiciouz one."

"But if you're good friends with her, why would you agree to participate in a plot to kill her!?"

"You do not zay no to ze Bozz. Zat iz ze golden rule of ze Fafnir Cruzaderz. I vaz kvite zhocked zat Grim vaz ze target and vaz honeztly perplexed az to vho made ze rekvezt. Neverzelezz, I had to carry out my tazk."

"So it _wasn't_ Kriemhilde who asked you to do that job! She _didn't_ approach you with any kind of request! It means that there's no killer-client relationship between you two, and someone else wanted to kill Grim!"

"But zat doez not prove zat Kriemhilde did not azk a different member of ze group."

"Argh-!" _This guy and his unprovable lies!_

Athena leaned in and angrily demanded, "Who do _you_ think would have wanted to commit this crime, Mr. Defekt!?"

"How am I zuppozed to know zat?" Gippich scowled. "All I know iz zat vhile Kree had zome problemz viz Grim, zere vere alzo people zat vere after her dezignz, however pazetic zey may have been. Vhy not try yelling your objectionz at zem inztead of me?"

"Oh man… We're not getting anywhere with this guy, Mr. Wright," Athena sweated. "I can sense a lot of fear in his voice. He must be scared out of his wits about exposing his comrades' activities and is beating around the bush because of that."

"Well, let's try a different angle of approach. If asking about Kriemhilde's activities is leading us into a dead end, let's ask about his alibi for both shootings."

"Good idea. Mr. Defekt, on the night of the murder, where were you and what you were doing?"

"Ah, finally a zimple kveztion, Frau Küken. I vaz viz my friendz at ze bar for ze vhole evening. You are more zan velcome to corroborate viz zem, if you'd like."

"Good," Athena nodded, satisfied about getting a straight answer for once. "How about for the second shooting that almost killed Ms. DiPrima?"

"I had to drive my friendz home zince zey had drunk zemzelves into kvite ze ztupor. I briefly zpoke viz zeir zpouzez zough, zo zey vould remember me. Once I returned home zough, ze polize vere vaiting for me viz zat zubpoena to teztify in ziz trial. You already know how vell zat turned out."

"All right. The defense has no doubt that you were not the hacker and trigger man who committed both shootings. You are only involved as an accessory to the crime. So now I want to turn our attention to your son's activities during both times."

"Gunzah'z? I'm afraid you're gonna have to azk him about zat…" Gippich frowned, then suddenly gripped the podium and demanded, "Vait! Are you going to try to accuze my zon of boz incidentz!?"

"That's not our intention, Mr. Defekt," the young attorney shook her head. "If Ms. Volsung was arrested for her mother's death due to her poor alibi, then wouldn't it be reasonable enough to investigate everyone involved who also had a poor alibi?"

"Ja, you might have a point zere, Frau Küken. But I know my zon ze bezt, and vhile he iz ze biggezt dummkopf on ze face of ziz planet, he haz no motive for committing eizer crime. He did not have any bad blood viz Grim, and he doez not know Frau Edelweiss vhatzoever."

"Um, who do you mean by 'Frau Edelweiss'?"

"Ah, my apologiez. I am referring to Mz. DiPrima."

 _Apparently, he's compared me to a white flower for whatever reason,_ Dona thought on the side, running her fingers through her long silver hair.

"Okay…" Athena muttered. "But the defense would still like to hear about his whereabouts in order to cross him off the list of suspects."

"Fraulein, if you pleaze, do not take ziz matter any furzer zan it needz to," Gippich pleaded. "Gunzah is not a killer. I can guarantee you at leazt zat."

Phoenix folded his arms and dubiously asked, "Even though he's also in the same killer gang as you?"

"Ah… Vell, zat iz zat, and ziz iz ziz."

"Then I recommend we have him take the stand and hear what he has to say about his activities."

"Vait, please! Do not accuze him of murder-for-hire! I vouldn't know vhat to do if-!"

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ "

A young man's bellowing voice boomed in the courtroom, and everyone looked around dumbfounded to see where it came from. It belonged to Gunther Defekt, who had been sitting in the gallery listening to the trial this whole time. He stood up and exclaimed, "Your Honor! If you need me to talk about my alibi, then I'll tell you everything I know!"

"And you are?" Justine asked.

"Gunzah, you vorthlezz dummkopf!" Gippich raged. "You juzt keep your trap zhut and let me handle ziz for once!"

"No way, Pops!" Gunther objected as the bailiff escorted him to the witness stand. "I don't want to be the defense's prime suspect, so I have to tell them everything! Or do you not mind me falling victim to false accusations like you were!?"

"Argh!"

With Gippich's hesitant blessing, Gunther took his place at the stand, and Sebastian asked, "All right, witness. Tell us your name and occupation."

"I'm Gunther Defekt," the teenager replied and removed his football helmet to reveal his messy blonde hair and sharp brown eyes. "I'm currently in my senior year of high school."

"Can you testify as to where you were during both shooting incidents?"

"No problem!" the witness gave the crowd a thumbs up. "For the time of Mrs. Volsung's murder, I was with a group of friends seeing a movie."

"Which movie did you all see?"

"We saw _Bronze Ronin: Wanderer of Ancient Olde Tokyo_. I still have my ticket stub, if you want to take a look."

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Phoenix exclaimed. "That's not going to be of much help, Mr. Defekt. Anyone could have given you that stub for you to use as evidence. After all, you're supposed to be the 'leader' of the gang that's been causing trouble for the town lately! You could have asked one of your 'boys' to give you theirs so you could prove your whereabouts."

"That bit about me being the leader is just a front for the media. I get paid quite well to look like the badass that the reporters are portraying me as. Besides, didn't you say so yourself earlier that the real leader is Balmung?"

"Well who's to say _you're_ not Balmung?"

"Mein Gott! That's just silly!" Gunther chuckled. "Let me humor you for a minute and say that the Boss really did want Mrs. Volsung and Ms. DiPrima killed himself. If I was the Boss, what would my motive be? I might have known Mrs. Volsung growing up, but we never had anything against each other. And I've never even heard of Ms. DiPrima until today."

"You didn't need to know them personally. It's been established that you stole money from my client in the past, and you guys take hit jobs for exorbitant amounts of money. You and your father are falling on hard times and are both members, so it'd be easy for you, as Balmung, to arrange for both jobs in order to provide an income."

"Man, you're grasping at straws. You can keep trying to pin me as the killer all you want, but I have all the proof I need besides the stub. Let me see… where did I put it…?"

Gunther tried looking around in his pockets, but became increasingly alarmed as he exclaimed, "Hey, where'd it go!?"

"Where did _what_ go?" Phoenix narrowed his eyes.

"My memento! It's a one-of-a-kind gift that my friend gave to me!"

 _I didn't think someone as buff and rowdy as him was into cute things like that…_ the lawyer thought sourly.

"Damn! If I don't have that, then I can't prove anything!" the teenager panicked.

"Gunzah, you…! Aaargh!" Gippich growled, looking like he was going to have an aneurism. "Ziz iz vhy I can't truzt you viz anyzing, you klutz! If you continue like ziz, you vill look like a complete fool to ze court!"

"No, I'm not backing down, Pops! I might have made a whole lot of mistakes in my life, but I want to get out of the criminal life for good!"

"Vhat!?"

"That's right! I'm done with it all! I'm tired of taking blood money to fuel my gambling habit! My first bet ever caused me to lose so much that you had to steal Mr. Nibelung's patent to sell to GAIM to make up the losses I caused! It was my fault that Mom divorced you due to our financial troubles! I was stupid enough to steal from Kree and gamble it away, forcing you to repay her by doing a job you didn't want to do! Hell, you joined the Fafnirs for my sake to begin with! I simply followed you so that I could keep you safe from the more violent members!"

"… Vho are you and vhat have you done viz my zon?"

"It's no joke!" Gunther exclaimed. "I'm being totally serious here! I've been thinking about it for a long time now, but now I see that everything begins and end with me. I've been wrecking your life with my habit, haven't I, Pops? I thought that because Mom was such a heavy spender, I could win it big and help us live a life of luxury for the rest of our lives. Instead, it's been one nightmare after another for us. I caused our family to fall apart, and now I want to start rebuilding it!"

"Gunzah…"

"Hmm," Sebastian hummed curiously. "I know what it's like to be in your position, Gunther. I was an ignorant, stupid child who thought he was always right and defied anyone who questioned me. It took a lot of serious soul searching for me to see the error of my ways, and to show my father that I was capable of doing what he expected of me. But it will take an even greater amount of work for you to actually prove your convection to everyone."

"I know," the teenager said. "I'm only taking the first step here, but I think it's an important one. I need to escape from the criminal life, and the best thing I thought I could do was tell you all the truth."

"But you seem to be flustered about losing this 'memento' of yours," Phoenix said.

"You're right that the stub proves nothing, Mr. Wright. The memento my friend gave me is a completely different story however. If I had it, I could prove that I was with them at the theatre during Mrs. Volsung's murder."

"You said it's one of a kind?"

"Yeah. It's actually one of a pair that makes up an entire piece of jewelry that my friend made by hand."

"I see. And you're sure you couldn't have received it anywhere other than at the theatre?"

"Absolutely. She told me that she made it just for the occasion the day before, and she gave it to me in person. If I had it on me, I could have submitted it for fingerprint analysis."

"That's true," Athena said. "You might be quite the jock, but you actually know a thing or two about the law, don't you?"

"I'm best friends with Sigurd, remember? He's taking the defense attorney course at Themis, and he always talks with me about how legal procedures work."

"Even so, there isn't much we can do without the memento, leaving us with no concrete evidence of where you were during Grimhilde's murder."

"I understand…" Gunther let out a crestfallen sigh.

"Let's move on to Ms. DiPrima's shooting, then. Where were you at around noon on November 4th?"

"I went to a friend's house after returning from the theatre on the 3rd. Pops was out drinking with some buddies during that same night, so I had to crash at my friend's place. I don't really like staying at my house by myself at night, after all. He's another member of the Fafnirs if you want to ask him about my stay."

"When did you leave?" Athena asked.

"I was actually planning on hanging out with my buddy all day, but then I got a call from Pops saying that he was arrested for resisting the subpoena."

"Do you know where he called from?"

"The detention center. I had my friend drive me over there as soon as possible."

Sebastian added, "The call has been recorded, and Gunther arrived at the center during the afternoon."

"So what you saying… is that it was impossible for either Gippich or Gunther to have committed either shooting…?" Athena sweated.

"Sorry, Ms. Cykes, but that's the truth," Gunther frowned. "Mr. Wright may have pointed out a possible motive, but our alibis make it impossible for us to be the killers. Sure, there's still the issue of me possibly being Mrs. Volsung's killer, but as far as Ms. DiPrima goes, it's not possible."

"But if you two were with other people during Ms. DiPrima's shooting, and Kree was at the station at the same time…"

"Who the heck could have tried to kill Dona!?" Phoenix exclaimed. "Who in the world is the hacker behind all of this!?"

"I can't think of anyone but the Boss," the witness offered. "And, as it's quite apparent by now, I'm not Balmung, and neither is Pops."

"Then who is he!? You have to know, don't you!? You're supposed to be providing the face for the Fafnirs, but you're not the group's real leader, right!?"

"I couldn't be the star player of any team, no matter how hard I tried. The Boss is a brilliant planner who comes up with great ideas for pulling off various jobs. All I do is follow his orders. The thing is, I don't actually know what he looks like."

"Don't tell me you get your orders through text messages and emails too!"

"That's just the way society is these days, Mr. Wright," Gunther shrugged. "Everything's all high tech and anonymous. Some of us have tried to trace Balmung's location, but he always manages to either erase it or misdirect us to a false lead, just like what our killer hacker did with Pops' fancy gun. I was actually thinking of saving some money and asking Mr. Nibelung to use his best technology to trace any new messages the Boss would leave for us."

"Why would you want to do that?" Athena asked.

"If I want to get out of the gang life, then it's obvious that I have to betray the Fafnirs. Balmung wouldn't be too happy about that now, wouldn't he?"

"I get it," Phoenix scratched his chin. "So you want to have Balmung arrested so that his group will dissolve, and you can move on with your life."

"Yeah. I don't know if it'll be that easy, but if I exposed his identity and handed him over to the police, I could reduce the sentence for my own crimes."

"So if Mr. Nibelung restores the hacker's connection to that biometric gun, then we could have a lead toward the real killer – the ever-mysterious Balmung."

"Exactly! That's why I wanted to take this chance to turn my life around and get out of the Fafnirs with Pops. If Mr. Nibelung doesn't find out who is responsible for these crimes, then…"

Phoenix grunted, suddenly feeling very worried for the young man.

"I see," Justine replied. "Although you and your father are complicit in this dangerous gang, you wish to atone for your sins and make your former cohorts culpable for their own actions, including this elusive Balmung fellow. The Goddess of Law smiles in admiration of your desire to abandon the criminal world and pursue justice for both yourself and your father."

"It seems I'll have to arrange for the witness protection program to have a word with the Defekts as soon as possible," Sebastian said. "Until the Fafnir Crusaders are dissolved, it would be extremely dangerous for them to be left unguarded after what Gunther has just testified to."

Meanwhile, Kriemhilde put a hand on her chest and worriedly thought, _I know Gunther's made many mistakes before, but is this just going to be another one for him? If he isn't careful, he and Mr. Defekt could be assassinated! Should I have just pleaded guilty instead and saved everyone the trouble?_

Phoenix slammed his palms on the defense table and said, "Your Honor, if Mr. Nibelung's investigation will lead us not only to the gang's leader, but also to Mrs. Volsung's killer and Ms. DiPrima's would-be killer, then I think it's imperative that another day be granted for him to finish his work. Without his results, a verdict can't be rendered due to the lack of concrete evidence."

"I have to agree with you, Mr. Wright," Justine nodded. "We're missing too many pieces of this puzzle. I would most certainly like to see the results of Mr. Nibelung's work, plus there is the issue of Gunther Defekt's little memento that he claims can prove his alibi during Grimhilde Volsung's murder. Mr. Debeste, if you are insistent upon indicting Kriemhilde Volsung as her mother's killer, then you will need to provide stronger evidence of her involvement while also determining who was responsible for Ms. DiPrima's near-fatal attempt.

"In conclusion, the defense's claim is that there is only one hacker, and that it is someone from the Fafnir Crusaders gang rather than the defendant. The prosecution's argument is that there are two killers; the defendant, who either operated the gun herself or hired someone else to do it, and an unknown second party who failed to kill Ms. DiPrima. I want more supporting evidence from both sides if I am to render a proper verdict in this case. Do I make myself quite clear?"

"Crystal, Your Honor," Phoenix replied firmly, relieved that he was going to get another day to investigate this confusing case.

"I understand, ma'am," Sebastian waved his baton. "I might not have been on my… uh, _best_ performance… But I will prove the defendant's guilt with irreputable evidence tomorrow. You better be ready for the real show, Wright!"

"Then that concludes the trial of Kriemhilde Volsung for today," Justine said, and began to raise her hammer/gavel. "Court is-"

" _ **HOLD IT!"**_


	21. Turnabout Wing - 11

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Trial: Part 4**

A new voice bellowed throughout the courtroom after everyone heard a door slamming open. To their surprise, it was Sigmund who had interrupted the proceedings.

"Mr. Nibelung!" Phoenix exclaimed.

"Zigmund!" Gippich bellowed angrily.

"Oh? So this is the CEO of Nibelung Corporation?" Justine asked.

"Yes, Your Honor," Sigmund said and stood at the witness podium. "I'm terribly sorry for the outburst, ma'am, but I had to present my findings as soon as I could."

"You mean about where the hacker hijacked the biometric gun and operated it for the two shootings!?" Phoenix demanded.

"That's correct, Mr. Wright. We restored the signal just now and determined where it lead to. It won't be necessary to extend the trial for my investigation."

"Well, that is most fortuitous," Justine said. "Although your conduct is questionable, I will let it slide if it will provide us with much-needed insight into where the killer operated the weapon from."

 _Kree's innocence is riding on this! If it's shown that the hacker was outside the Volsung residence during both shootings, then Debeste's theory will be dead out of the water!_ Phoenix thought desperately.

"So, Mr. Nibelung," Sebastian said, "where does the signal lead to?"

Then to everyone's collective astonishment, Sigmund's expression became tense. His eyes shadowed over as if he wanted to hide his anguish from the gallery.

"The signal…" he murmured quietly. "It leads to… To…"

"Mr. Nibelung?" Phoenix asked. "What's the matter?"

"I… I can't… bring myself… to say it…"

"Why not!? This is the most crucial evidence to proving Ms. Volsung's innocence!"

"I know… It's just…"

The attorney was about to demand him to talk, but Athena pulled his sleeve and whispered, "Just a second, Mr. Wright. Something wrong with him. The voice of his heart is crying out with both anger and sadness."

"Anger and sadness? Are you saying his findings have caused him to be extremely agitated?"

"I think so. He's too afraid to discuss his findings to the court. Yet, there's also a hint of rage boiling deep within him. I think it has to do with whatever the location is that he discovered; that there's something familiar about it to him."

"A familiar location, huh?" Phoenix murmured. "A hacker who is excellent with computers… A biometric gun that Sigmund designed… A location that's familiar to him… Wait, could it be!? Mr. Nibelung, permit me to speak, but does the signal happen to trace back to Nibelung Corporation!?"

"Urk-!" the CEO gasped and sweated uncontrollably. "It… It does, Mr. Wright…"

"No way!" Phoenix, Athena and Sebastian collectively gasped.

"So the result of your investigation," Justine said, ever the calm and collected one, "is that the killer hacked into the murderous weapon and operated it from your headquarters on both occasions, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sigmund admitted with a heavy expression.

"Do you have any idea who it could have been?"

"Well… um… The thing is…"

"Vhat'z ze matter, Zigmund?" Gippich asked with a coy grin. "You have alwayz been ze ztraight arrow vhen it comez to dizhing out your brand of juztice, Mein Freund. Vhat'z viz ze hezitation now, eh? Are you not villing to drag ze killer'z name zrough ze mud ze way you did to me?"

"Be quiet, traitor!"

"Heh heh heh! Now ziz iz vhat I call deliciouz irony. Zomeone haz uzed your oh-zo impregnable headkvarterz to commit murder zrough ze zame technology I zold to GAIM. I bet it vaz ze Bozz, if ziz trial iz anyzing to go by."

"Boss? Who're you talking about?"

"Balmung, of courze. Ze zame man who borrowed ze name of our old BALMUNG program. Ain't zat rich! Ze Fafnirz' bozz could very vell be zomeone who haz accezz to your top of ze line computerz, and haz knowledge of vhat our old project'z name vaz!"

" _ **I don't believe it!"**_ Sigmund roared, gripping the witness stand with an iron grasp. "There's no way anyone in my company would have ties to such a murderous group! Every employee under me goes through a rigorous hiring process, including a police check every two years!"

"But ze zignal leadz back to zere, doezn't it?"

"I-It does, but…"

"And you muzt have found out vhich terminal vaz uzed for both zhootingz, ja? I know how zorough you are viz your work, Zigmund. You vould leave no ztone unturned, ezpecially viz zuch an important caze on your handz."

"I don't want to hear that from the guy who agreed to install that thing in Grim's house!"

"Zo zaid ze pot to ze kettle."

" _ **YOU!"**_

"Pops, that's enough!" Gunther shouted, getting in Gippich's way of taunting his former friend any further.

"But Gunzah, do you not know vhat ziz meanz? Zigmund haz juzt realized zat he iz harboring a criminal under hiz own roof, and now he iz not villing to zay vho it iz. Vhy, for all ve know, it could have been Zigmund himzelf vho is pulling ze vool over our eyez! Hah hah hah!"

Sigmund looked like he was about to tear the witness stand out of the ground and hurl it at Gippich. Phoenix, Athena and Sebastian sweated anxiously, trying to find the words to calm him down, but couldn't.

 _ ***BANG!***_

Justine's hammer slammed onto the ground with a thunderous roar, bringing order to the courtroom once again. She commanded, "Bailiff, please remove Mr. Defekt from the courtroom posthaste. He will have an additional charge of contempt added to his record."

"Yes, Your Honor!" the officer saluted and forcefully escorted Gippich out as he continued yelling at Sigmund. Gunther followed them out, begging his father to stop embarrassing himself anymore.

The judge sighed. "I am not a fan of such unwarranted rigmarole. Well, without any further ado, please testify about your findings, Mr. Nibelung."

"O-Of course, Your Honor…" Sigmund trembled, regaining his senses.

"Man, I thought we were going to have a war zone on our hands for a second there…" Phoenix grumbled.

"You said it, Boss," Athena sighed with relief. "But it looks like the real battle's about to begin."

"Why do you say that?"

"Mr. Nibelung's voice is shivering with fear. Finding out that our killer hacker operated the weapon from his own headquarters must have really rattled him."

"You think he's scared because everyone will think he's intentionally harboring someone from the Fafnirs?"

"Maybe. Let's see what he has to say."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: Where the Hacker Was**

Sigmund said, "After a thorough analysis of the biometric gun's systems, my engineers and I determined that the hacker got into it through a backdoor and took control of the weapon. The hacker had severed the connection permanently after the second shooting on Ms. DiPrima. It took a while for us to restore the connection, but we managed to do so after a lot of work. It leads to a terminal from my headquarters, and it's absolutely certain that the hacker operated from that computer for both incidents."

* * *

"Mr. Nibelung, if I may ask, do you believe the killer is someone who works for you?" Justine asked. "Know that refusing to answer is to be in contempt, especially now that we need solid details of this new evidence you have brought us."

"I'm not sure, Your Honor," Sigmund replied with a heavy frown. "I would have to return to the corporation and have records analyzed to see who was using that computer for both crimes."

"This doesn't look good, Mr. Wright…" Athena whispered to her superior. "We trusted him with finding out the hacker's location, but if he's trying to hide their identity out of fear, he could try to forge evidence to cover for them when we're not looking!"

"So what we have to do is make him talk about as much as he knows, right here and now," Phoenix replied. "Let's get everything out of him with this cross-examination."

"You got it, Boss!"

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: Where the Hacker Was**

" **After a thorough analysis of the biometric gun's systems, my engineers and I determined that the hacker got into it through a backdoor and took control of the weapon."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ Let me clarify something with you first. How do you break through a biometric gun's security and operate it like some kind of remote turret?" Phoenix asked.

"It's rather complicated to explain the actual details, but since it was protected by a passcode and Gippich was the one who installed it, he most likely would have given the code to the killer after he left the Volsung residence. As for operating it directly, the killer must have prepared the weapon beforehand and connected it to a controller at their terminal."

"Almost like a video game, except the targets are real people."

"Exactly, Mr. Wright. However, **the hacker had severed the connection permanently after the second shooting on Ms. DiPrima.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ If their only objective was to kill Grimhilde and create a closed room murder, why wouldn't they have just permanently severed the connection then? Why go through the trouble of trying to kill Dona using the same convoluted method?"

"Look, I'm not going to pretend that I know how killers think," Sigmund retorted. "All I know is that the connection had been maintained after Grim's death. There's a camera attached to the weapon after all, so perhaps the killer wanted to revel in watching the police as they searched around hopelessly for clues. Or maybe they wanted to make absolutely sure that Grim was dead beyond the shadow of a doubt. Who knows?"

"So if the camera caught Dona in its sights…" Athena murmured.

"Yes, Ms. Cykes. They must have seen it as an opportunity to kill her as well. But they misfired, which led them to cut the connection immediately afterward since they foolishly revealed the gun's location to the police, thus ruining their plan to create a closed room murder."

"I see," Phoenix pondered. "So how long did it take you and your team to trace the hacker's signal?"

" **It took a while for us to restore the connection, but we managed to do so after a lot of work."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ Let's go back to the basics for a second here, Mr. Nibelung. The killer is someone who knows a lot about computers."

"I think that goes without saying, Mr. Wright," Sigmund gave him a wry glare.

"Just bear with me for a second here. Our killer is a computer whiz, but it's a well-known fact that my client is actually computer illiterate."

"Yeah, that's right. Kriemhilde was never good with computers. She was more of a hands-on type of person."

"So then I ask you, Prosecutor Debeste," Phoenix asked Sebastian, "even if the defendant's alibi isn't airtight, what makes you think that she would be able to use such complex technology to commit murder when she can't even turn a monitor on?"

"Hm hm hm," the prosecutor chuckled. "Have you forgotten about my theory already? It didn't have to be her operating the controls. She could have hired someone from the Fafnirs to do it for her."

"Where's your proof that she colluded with anyone from the gang?"

"Do you think they'd be stupid enough to leave evidence of such a conspiracy behind?"

"Well I would think you and the police would be smart enough to _find_ such evidence!"

"All right, then let me play by your rules for a minute and concede that I have no actual proof of an outside occlusion. Since the defendant was not seen by anyone for over three hours, it stands to reason that she would have had plenty of time to go to Nibelung Corporation and-"

"Sorry to throw cold water on your theory, Prosecutor," Sigmund interrupted him with a light smile. "But that's simply not possible."

"What!? Why not!?"

"It'd be silly for a security company to not be fortified with its own products. My headquarters boasts a number of security cameras that observe my employees at all times. I can say with absolute confidence that Kriemhilde was never seen on any of them during the time of both Grimhilde's murder and Dona's attempted murder."

"N… No… _**NO WAA~AA~AAYYY!**_ "

"So what you're saying, Mr. Nibelung," Justine said, "is that it was impossible for the defendant to have gone to your headquarters, hacked into the victim's gun and controlled it from there without being caught on security footage."

"Exactly, Your Honor," Sigmund nodded. "While it's true that there's no conclusive evidence to prove what Kriemhilde was doing during her mother's murder, there _is_ evidence to show that there's no possibility for her to have been the actual killer. If you doubt me, I can compile every camera's footage that coincides with that time frame."

"I see. And since the prosecution has no solid evidence of the defendant colluding with the murderer in any capacity, it means the defendant's indictment has been rendered invalid."

"Agh…" Sebastian groaned.

"We did it, Mr. Wright!" Athena cheered, and Widget turned green to express her happiness. "Kree's no longer under suspicion!"

"It was Mr. Nibelung who saved her," Phoenix nodded, thinking back to what Sigmund said yesterday:

" _Oh… When I hear it like that, I wonder if Grim and I's selfish decisions forced poor Kriemhilde into such a situation…"_

 _He must have felt responsible for her situation and sought any means he could to clear her name,_ the attorney thought. _He managed to do just that, but now we have a new problem to contend with._

"What's the matter, Boss? You still look uncertain about something," Athena wondered.

"It's just that if Kriemhilde has been officially ruled out as a suspect, and Gippich and Gunther didn't do it, then who do we have left as suspects?"

"I don't know… It looks like Mr. Nibelung has more to say."

Meanwhile, Justine asked the flustered engineer, "I recall you saying that the killer operated the gun from Nibelung Corporation. Is that correct?"

"Yes, Your Honor. **The signal leads to a terminal from my headquarters, and it's absolutely certain that the hacker operated from that computer for both incidents."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ Are you sure it's only just one terminal that the killer operated the gun from?" Phoenix asked.

"Yes, there's just one computer connected to it," Sigmund said. "It was the only one used for both incidents, if you must know."

"So? Who does the computer belong to?"

"Well, suffice to say, every computer in the facility belongs to me."

"That's not what I meant. Doesn't every employee of yours have an assigned computer to do their work from?"

"Yes, they do."

"So then if it wasn't you, it had to be one of your employees. Can you give us the name of that person?"

Sigmund became increasingly distressed, and he clenched his head while gritting his teeth in a look of sheer distress. "I… I… I refuse… to testify… any further…"

"What!?" Phoenix demanded.

"I said I refuse to testify! Not until I get more information from headquarters about who was doing what and when!"

"Crap, he's pleading the Fifth," Athena muttered. "He's dead set on investigating this matter himself."

"Damn it!" her mentor swore. "Whoever that terminal belongs to, it must be someone that Sigmund knows personally. Maybe if we dug in further about who his personal confidants are, we can question them about their activities instead."

"Mr. Nibelung," Sebastian said with a calm tone, suddenly looking too comfortable for Phoenix's liking. "Your refusal to testify is inadmissible. Your statements are directly related to the evidence that you uncovered during your investigation, and are therefore not self-incriminating. If you wish not to state what those results are, then I must ask you to show us the necessary documents."

"I can't. Everything was done on my laptop, and I had one of my engineers bring it back to headquarters for me."

"Is that so? Then I have no choice," the prosecutor waved his baton. "If I reconsider my thinking a little, then perhaps your refusal to testify will make more sense. The simple question would be this: What if that evidence actually _does_ incriminate you?"

Phoenix glared at Sebastian with a wry stare and sweated. "Wait, don't tell me you're going to-!"

"Oh, but I am, Mr. Wright!" Sebastian declared and pointed his baton at the witness stand. "I move to indict Sigmund Nibelung as the prime suspect in the murder of Grimhilde Volsung and the attempted murder of Dona DiPrima!"

" _ **WHAT!?**_ " Sigmund roared like an angry lion. "This is preposterous! I have done nothing of the sort! You have no grounds to base such an outrageous claim!"

" _¡Ay, caramba!_ This is going from bad to worse!" Athena exclaimed.

Phoenix slammed his palms against the defense table and demanded, "Why are you accusing Mr. Nibelung of these crimes now, Prosecutor Debeste!?"

"It's simple, really," Sebastian confidently tapped his baton against his palm. "Just like Kriemhilde, his alibi is too flimsy. Think about where he was during both incidents. For Grimhilde's murder, he was at Nibelung Corporation, so he had the perfect opportunity to operate the gun then. The security footage that he boasted about earlier should prove that he was there at that time, yes?"

"It… does…" Sigmund murmured, his rage turning into hesitant capitulation. "I'm seen on several cameras, yes…"

"As for Dona's attempted murder, I had called him immediately afterwards demanding to know why the gun was registered to his company. I called directly to the headquarters as well, so I know perfectly well that he was there then too."

"Son of a bitmap…" Phoenix grumbled. He straightened up and asked Sigmund, "Then let the defense ask this question. Did you kill Grimhilde Volsung and attempt to kill Dona DiPrima? And since we've established that it was the Fafnirs' boss Balmung who is the killer, does that make you Balmung himself?"

"Absolutely not. I have no ties to such an outlandish bunch of lawbreakers, never mind being their boss. But if someone from the gang had access to my facility's computers, then…"

Unseen by anyone, Phoenix's hand gently reached into his pocket. His fingers brushed against the Magatama – a treasure he received from a spirit medium that could help him see if someone was lying or not - and he thought, _There aren't any Psyche-Locks coming from him, so he has to be telling the truth. But how am I going to prove it? Debeste is right about Sigmund's alibi being too weak, the only reasonable motive we have is murder-for-hire, and he's not willing to share the information about the owner of the computer that caused all of this._

"Mr. Wright?" Kriemhilde suddenly interrupted his train of thinking.

"Yes?"

"If I've been cleared of all charges, then doesn't that mean this trial should be over? If you don't need to defend me anymore, then you can defend Mr. Nibelung, if that's what he wants."

"You're right about that. But if he's not willing to cooperate with me, then there's nothing I can do as a defense attorney. Yet if I let the prosecution have its way, he'll be found guilty and sentenced for crimes he didn't commit."

"Why is Mr. Nibelung being so stubborn about those results? I just don't understand it."

"I think he's trying to cover for somebody," Athena said. "If he maintains his silence like this, it'll be the same as taking the fall for that person. From the way things are looking though, he might think that's a better option than telling the truth."

"But that's not right! Who could be so important to him that he'd allow his life to be ruined like this!?"

"Kriemhilde…" Sigmund murmured, having heard what she was saying to her attorneys. "I'm sorry that you've had to go through all of this. It was all Grimhilde and I's fault for setting up that arranged marriage."

"No, I'm not worried about that at all, Mr. Nibelung. It's just… Don't you understand what you're doing? If you keep on hiding the truth from everyone, not only will you be the prime suspect, but you'll be letting a killer walk free!"

"I know. But I believe that if the killer is someone who is part of my organization, then it is likewise my responsibility as their superior to be accountable for their actions. I may not be the boss of the Fafnir Crusaders, but if I have been harboring someone like that within my own company, then the court of public opinion will find me just as guilty as Balmung."

"That's not fair! Mom wouldn't want you to do this!"

"Mr. Nibelung, please reconsider!" Phoenix begged. "I don't think you understand what you're doing!"

"I know perfectly well what I'm doing, Mr. Wright. I don't need you to defend me. You did a stellar job keeping Kriemhilde safe from these charges. I couldn't ask any more of you than that."

"No…"

"So are you confessing to the charges being laid against you?" Sebastian asked, feeling quite pleased that he finally found the real mastermind and would be taking him off the streets.

Sigmund closed his eyes, then prepared to say, "I plead guilty."

But he never got the chance to.

" _ **HOLD IT."**_

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around to see who had cried out in such an ethereal yet commanding voice. Then they found the source standing at the witness stand with an expression of stoic serenity.

"Ms. DiPrima?" Justine uttered, showing a rare moment of surprise.

"Dona!? What are you doing!?" Phoenix yelped.

"Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the court," Dona declared with a bold yet placid tone, then bowed humbly. "I sincerely apologize for my sudden outburst. However, there is something else that I must testify to."

"Have you gone mad, witness!?" Sebastian yelled angrily. "The defendant has been cleared of all charges, and we have a new suspect! What else could you possibly testify to!?"

"I agree that there is no further room for debate regarding Kree's involvement. However, there was something on my mind that I intentionally withheld from you, Prosecutor."

"H-How can you be so calm about this!? What could you have possibly hidden from me!?"

"I remained silent on the matter simply because I had no solid evidence to support my claim. But now with the revelation of where the computerized gun was operated from, I felt compelled to offer a new lead for the investigation – one that only four of us know about."

"Four…?" Phoenix wondered, then realized, "Are you talking about the double date on the night of the crime!?"

"Yes. I had my suspicions during then, particularly involving one person."

Brunhilde stood up in the gallery and asked Dona, "What do you mean you were 'suspicious'? You didn't look like you were suspecting anybody at all during the evening!"

"Like I said to Prosecutor Debeste, I simply had no evidence. But after meeting someone in the lobby before the trial began, I gained a valuable clue that will simultaneously put my doubts to rest and incriminate a new suspect other than Mr. Nibelung."

"You think you know who could have killed Grimhilde!?" Phoenix exclaimed, his eyes widening with anticipation. If anyone wanted to hear her testimony now, it was him.

"That's insane!" Sigmund objected. "How in the world are you going to prove that it wasn't me!? I'm guilty as charged!"

"Then would you care to share who was actually using that terminal during both crimes?" Dona asked. "Maybe the good prosecutor could have the police seize the laptop in question and report the results themselves."

"Oh!" Sebastian's cow-licked hair stood on end as he realized her point.

"Gah… I'm sorry to say this, but there's nothing you can say or do to stop this," Sigmund said, then took out his phone, had a number rung on speed dial, and told someone on the other line, "It's me. Destroy the laptop immediately. If the police get their hands on it, we're finished."

"Mr. Nibelung!" Sebastian shouted and slammed his fist on the table. "That's obstruction of justice!"

"That's fine by me."

"Bailiff, have an officer run over to Nibelung's offices A-stat!"

"Yes, sir!" the bailiff saluted Sebastian and ran out of the courtroom.

Justine sighed and muttered, "Mr. Nibelung. Due to your misconduct and unwillingness to cooperate, you will be held without bond for spoliation of evidence relevant to these legal proceedings. Furthermore, there is reasonable enough doubt regarding your alibi to incriminate you as the main suspect for murder and attempted murder. Do you agree to these terms?"

Sigmund remained tight-lipped and silent as he glared at Dona. As if ignoring Justine completely, he said to the young student, "Now you have nothing to testify about, Ms. DiPrima. You had best return to your seat and-"

"Nice try, but that wasn't what I was going to talk about," was the curt, unruffled response.

"What!?"

"Then what _do_ you want to talk about, Dona?" Phoenix asked.

"There's something else I have in mind, Mr. Wright. If I could just have some of the court's time, then I will explain everything."

"If Kriemhilde's been cleared, and Dona can prove that Sigmund is not the only remaining suspect, then we should let her testify!" Athena demanded to Sebastian.

The prosecutor closed his eyes and beat his wand against his palm in a contemplative rhythm. Justine asked him, "Do you have any objections to Ms. DiPrima speaking?"

He spent another moment deciding, then replied, "I say, you've all got me curious now. I will let you testify, but I want you to identify this person in one testimony, understand? You are already in contempt of court, so any further dragging of this trial will not be tolerated."

"Yes, sir," Dona nodded. "I will explain my theory as concisely as possible."

 _This is my chance!_ Phoenix thought. _If I can help prove that Dona's suspicions are correct, we can figure out who the true killer and her would-be assassin is! Then she won't have to worry about her life being in danger any longer!_

"Well, let's get to the point," Sebastian said. "Ms. DiPrima, which one of you four did you want to testify about?"

The student's gaze met Brunhilde's, and she paused while thinking, _This is going to hurt her a lot, but it's the only way to get to the truth. I may have to calm her down during my testimony, but at least the evidence will speak for me to both sides of this court._

Finally, she only said one name aloud:

"Sigurd."


	22. Turnabout Wing - 12

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Trial: Part 5**

"M… M… _Mon Dieu!_ " Athena yelled at the top of her lungs, dropping her jaw and grasping her cheeks. "Have you lost your mind, Dona!? You want to accuse Mr. Nibelung's son!? But he's the same age as you, right!?"

"That's correct," Dona said, totally unfazed by the lawyer's flabbergasted reaction. "I just turned 13, and Sigurd likewise turned 13 back in the summer."

"Ah… Ah hah hah! This must be some kind of bad dream. There's no way a 13-year old kid could do any of this. Isn't that right, Mr. Nibelung?"

To her amazement however, Sigmund's expression was one of forcibly repressed desperation and anguish. He used a cloth to wipe his brow of the excessive sweat pouring down his face as he glared at Dona and demanded, "Please… Don't do this…"

"I have to. I may not be a lawyer yet, but my duty to the public is to find the truth in order to clear the client's name and incriminate the real culprits. If you're not willing to divulge the evidence you found, then I will exercise my own objectivity and provide different evidence to this court. This isn't just for Kree; it's also to protect you from your own foolishness, and to bring justice to the one who killed Mrs. Volsung and is trying to kill me," Dona explained. "I'm just as involved in this case as all of you are, and I need to think about my own safety too."

"N-No…" Sigmund choked up, looking to be on the verge of an emotional meltdown. "Ah-! This isn't happening!"

Then out of nowhere, he threw his head back and let out a yell that was equivalent to a lion's roar, letting everyone in the courtroom feel his despair. Tears streamed down the distraught man's face as a bailiff escorted him off the witness stand and guided him to the lobby to let him rest.

"M-Mr. Wright… Are you sure we should let Dona testify?" Athena asked worriedly. "This is her own classmate we're talking about here. Both of them are just minors. There's no way Sigurd could have been intelligent enough to do all of these things without his father knowing…"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Athena," Phoenix sounded surprisingly calm. His mind wandered back to his early career, when he was involved with defending a client in the Hazakura Temple murder case. A key person involved in that incident was a remorseless young woman named Dahlia Hawthorne, who had long since been executed for her crimes. Way back when his mentor Mia Fey began her own career, her very first trial involved exploring a fake kidnapping plot that Dahlia had arranged back when she was 14 years old, using her older 'boyfriend' as a scapegoat to take the blame for her.

That very age range made him rather nostalgic, and not in a good way.

"Do you really want to do this, Boss?" Athena frowned.

"If it's the truth, then we need to hear it. Sigmund deliberately destroyed the evidence he provided, so Dona's testimony of that double date may be our only chance."

"O-Okay… I'll trust you on this one all the way!"

"So then, Ms. DiPrima, what do you wish to testify about regarding Sigurd?" Sebastian asked.

"Rather than provide testimony for the moment, I would like to present this as new evidence for the court," Dona said, showing them the wing-shaped hair ornament that Gunther dropped earlier. "This is one of only two hairpins that belong to Brunhilde, which she gave to her friends as good luck charms. After the movie finished on November 3, we went into the parking lot where she dropped this pin onto the ground, but Sigurd picked it up for her. She then gave it to him to hang on to until their next date."

"That sounds quite romantic," Justine smiled, then asked, "But then, why do you have it in your possession?"

"This may sound strange at first, but I bumped into Gunther Defekt in the hallways of this courthouse before the trial began, and this very same hairpin fell out of his pocket. I believe it is the same memento that he was so flustered about losing earlier. Since Brune had given me the other pin at an unrelated time, I decided to ask her if they were custom made or manufactured. She told me that her mother designed them only for her, so they are indeed one-of-a-kind hairpins."

"Do you have the other pin with you for comparison?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Dona showed everyone the pin that Brunhilde gave her at the detention center. "As you can see, they appear identical, yet have some features that can tell the two apart – particularly that one is a left wing and the other a right. So to review, she gave the left wing to Sigurd on November 3, and the right wing to me the next day. Yet prior to the trial, the left-winged pin fell out of Gunther's pocket when it should have never been in his possession."

"Are you sure?" Phoenix asked her.

"Absolutely. My original intention was to return it to Gunther, but now I wish to examine it for fingerprints."

"Fingerprints? Why would you want those?"

"I have a theory in mind regarding Sigurd and Gunther, but I will not voice it unless the evidence supports my claim."

"Will this theory become relevant to the trial, Ms. DiPrima?" Justine asked.

"If it didn't, I would not have asked to be a surprise witness."

"… Your thoughts, Mr. Wright? Mr. Debeste?"

Phoenix eagerly slammed his palms against the table and said, "The defense has no objections, Your Honor. If the fingerprint analysis supports whatever claim she has in mind, then I see no issue with finding out who handled that hair ornament before listening to her."

Sebastian closed his eyes and grinned. "It's clear that the witness doesn't wish to make an argument without evidence, and she's quite insistent that it will become reverent. I suppose there's no choice but to grant her request if we're to hear anything further from her."

"Very well," the judge said. "Then we will take a 15 minute recess and return with the results."

She slammed her gavel to finalize her decision.

* * *

 **November 5, 2027**

 **12:30 PM**

 **District Court – Courtroom No. 3**

After the recess was over, court reconvened upon the slamming of Justine's gavel once again.

"Now that court is back in session, do you have the results of the fingerprint analysis on the hairpin Ms. DiPrima submitted, Prosecutor Debeste?" the judge asked him.

To Phoenix and Athena's combined surprise, Sebastian was hunched over the prosecutor's bench with an astonished expression as he glared at the papers in his hands in disbelief.

"What's his problem?" Athena grumbled. "Did he eat something bad and has to be excused?"

"I don't think so," her mentor murmured.

"Mr. Debeste," Justine snapped him out of his dumbfounded reverie. "I asked you a question. I expect a timely answer. The Goddess of Law does not wait for servants of the law to overcome their emotions before presenting their findings."

"Y-Yes, ma'am…" Sebastian grumbled. "I have the fingerprint analysis on the left-winged hair ornament."

"Well then, do not delay."

"W-Well… Upon request, the fingerprints of four individuals were analyzed; Brunhilde Volsung, who owned the ornament; Dona DiPrima, who handled it during this trial; Sigurd Nibelung, who had been given it as a memento; and Gunther Defekt, who had it in his pocket as per the witness' testimony. The results were conclusive for… um… only three people…"

"Really, now? That should be impossible, given that all four of them have had contact with it in one way or another."

"It's true that Brunhilde and Dona's prints were on it, but the third person's prints have been proven to belong to…"

"To!?" Athena repeated excitedly.

"To… Gunther Defekt."

"… Wait, what?"

"Gunther is the third person who has ever handled this hairpin."

The people in the gallery chatted among themselves, wondering what the heck this discovery meant. Justine slammed her hammer and shouted, "Order! Order in the court!"

"You can't be serious!" Phoenix yelped. "What about Sigurd!? Brunhilde gave it to him as a gift, right!?"

"Yes, but his prints can't be found anywhere," Sebastian sweated, trying to make sense of this information. "It means that he never received it, so therefore he could never have handled it."

"B-But those four were together all night on the 3rd!"

"I know, but the results don't lie…"

"What is going _on_ here!? Does this mean that Brunhilde gave it to Gunther instead!?"

"That's insane!" the gangster girl objected fiercely. "That guy used Kree as his personal ATM before she ditched him! I would never have given one of my good luck charms to him knowing that! Besides, I most positively gave it to Sigurd that night! I wouldn't have mistaken him for anyone else!"

Just then, Dona's voice interjected from the witness stand, "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Brune."

"What!?"

"Just because you _saw_ someone doesn't necessarily mean that's who they _are_."

"I don't understand what you mean!"

"Doesn't the fingerprint analysis tell you anything? You gave it to Sigurd, but it has Gunther's prints on it while Sigurd's are completely absent. On the surface, this should be impossible, and yet it has become reality. Therefore, with logical deduction, it must be concluded that the person we _saw_ as Sigurd was not _actually_ Sigurd."

"So you're saying…?"

" _The Sigurd Nibelung we were with was actually Gunther Defekt in disguise."_

Brunhilde's eyes widened in horror, and she genuinely was at a loss for words. The audience clamored in shock and awe from Dona's outrageous claim.

" _ **ORDER!"**_

Justine's serene voice broke through the cacophony loud and clear, and she slammed her hammer for extra emphasis. Once the courtroom fell into total silence, she glared at Dona and said, "So let me get this straight. Your assertion is that it was Gunther, posing as Sigurd, who went on this double date with you, Brunhilde and Caleb. Brunhilde gave our fake Sigurd the hairpin as a token of friendship, and it didn't leave his hands until you accidentally bumped into him before the trial began."

"That's correct, ma'am," Dona affirmed with a stoic expression.

"You do realize that while the lack of Sigurd's fingerprints is questionable, it does not prove that Gunther had actually posed as him during the double date. The only thing we have derived from your evidence is that Sigurd never handled the hairpin. Furthermore, if we examine the footage from when you four were at the theater, we will clearly see Sigurd with you all. Can you actually prove your theory that Gunther actually disguised himself as Sigurd and effectively fooled the rest of you?"

Dona gave Justine a slight bow and replied, "I believe I can."

"You… _can_!?" Phoenix exclaimed.

"Prosecutor Debeste, may I be so bold as to make another request?"

"Hm?" Sebastian wondered. "Well, it depends on what the request is. Is it for the police to investigate something?"

"Something like that. I was wondering if they could ask the cell tower company for records on the towers that were in the closest proximity to Oriental Barbeque, where we ate dinner, and Limelight Cinemas, where we watched the film."

"The cell towers? Why would you want that as evidence for this trial?"

"Oh, I get it!" Athena exclaimed. "Those towers are required for any devices that use a cellular network to function!"

"Care to explain in English, Athena?" Phoenix muttered.

"Well, you know how cell phones and wi-fi servers don't have any reception in very rural areas? That's because they don't have cell towers connecting those devices to the overall cellular network, and you need such a network if you want to use wireless gadgets like cell phones and broadband internet connections. Connect the signals from all of these towers together, and you can create a wireless network that can spread over a wide geographical area. The Mood Matrix also operates on a cellular network, although it can be battery operated if I happen to be in an area without reception."

"Okay… So what does this have to do with Dona's request?"

"Every device that relies on the network leaves a record of what towers were used to connect it. For example, if the company that owns the nearest tower here does a look-up of when I used the Mood Matrix last, they'll see its record at around the time I cross-examined Dona with it. So basically, her request is that she wants to see the records of the towers closest to those two places she mentioned, and then figure out who was using the network through those towers during the time of their double date."

"You're saying that we can see if either Gunther or Sigurd, or even both of them, had their cell phone with them during that timeframe?"

"That's right! It would be concrete evidence of who was actually at the date based on the cell tower data!"

"I see," Justine replied. "If that's the case, then I will allow it. Bailiff, call the company and bring a report to us about whether or not Gunther Defekt's or Sigurd Nibelung's cell phones were used near the Oriental Barbeque and Limelight Cinemas."

"Yes, Your Honor!" the officer replied and hurried out to do his task. It didn't take him long, as he returned with a handwritten note and said, "I have the information you requested, ma'am. According to the cell tower company, the towers that were closest to those locations came back positive with Gunther Defekt's cell phone being used during the timeframe of Grimhilde Volsung's murder."

"And for Sigurd Nibelung?"

"They couldn't find anything."

"Y-You've gotta be kidding me…" Sebastian looked like he was about to pass out. He showed a rare moment of explosive emotion as he exclaimed, "Ms. DiPrima! What exactly possessed you to have such strong suspicions of Sigurd during your little _soiree_ anyway!?"

"Since the evidence is backing up my claims now, I feel confident enough to testify about it," Dona said. "I want to explain everything that I was thinking and doing during the night in order to answer your question."

"You do realize this is your own classmate you're accusing, right?"

"Your point being?"

"Um, uh… Well…" Sebastian was completely thrown off by Dona's unperturbed calmness.

"For whatever reason, I don't think Dona really thinks highly of Sigurd," Athena frowned.

"I'm sure she'll explain her reasoning," Phoenix said. He told Justine, "The defense has no objections to hearing Ms. DiPrima's testimony."

"Very well," she nodded. "I'm not exactly sure where this discussion is leading us, but please enlighten us to the details of the double date, young lady."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: The Double Date**

Dona said, "The idea of going on the double date originated when Brune and I wanted to ask Sigurd more about the Fafnirs' boss, Balmung. The four of us – myself, Caleb Murphy, and Gunther Defekt posing as Sigurd Nibelung – all met up at Brune's house and left at 3:45 PM. We had dinner at the Oriental Barbeque, then went to Limelight Cinemas to watch the film. After it was over, we were in front of the theater when Brune dropped her ornament, and 'Sigurd' picked it up for her. She agreed to let him hang on to it until their next date. We then returned to her house at 8:00 PM, and Kree was worried because she couldn't contact Mrs. Volsung, and that was when we discovered the murder."

* * *

"Sounds pretty cut and dry, if you ask me," Athena tapped her chin. "What are we going to cross-examine her for?"

"Like Prosecutor Debeste said, Dona was suspicious of 'Sigurd' during the date, which then compelled her to talk about it during this trial. I really want to know what sort of behavior 'Sigurd' had to cause such doubts in her," Phoenix said.

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: The Double Date**

" **The idea of going on the double date originated when Brune and I wanted to ask Sigurd more about the Fafnirs' boss, Balmung."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ First of all, why did you two want to ask Sigurd of all people about a criminal gang's boss?" Phoenix asked.

Dona explained, "Shortly after Brune allowed me to be an honorary member of her gang, the Valkyrie Wings, she divulged information to me about the Fafnirs' boss using the code name Balmung. Then during lunch at school one day, Sigurd approached me and freely discussed about how his father worked on an old security program that used the acronym BALMUNG."

"So that made you think that this mystery person borrowed the name from Sigmund's program?"

"That's right, although I won't blame you for thinking my hunch is baseless. At that point in time, Brune and I were searching for any leads we could find about him, and this was the best one I heard."

"Why did Brune invite you into the Valkyrie Wings anyway? It obviously happened after she saved you from the girder incident, but you wouldn't want to associate yourself with the criminal element when you're a legal student, right?"

"Under normal circumstances, that's right. But remember what was established in my previous testimony; someone is after my life."

"Oh…"

"Furthermore, it was my own suggestion to join because I had deduced that Balmung was someone who was involved with the upper echelons of society. Since Themis is a school that enrolls students from mostly wealthy families, I figured that I could use my connections to investigate on the sly without revealing my involvement with the Valkyries."

"You think Balmung is someone wealthy? Why do you say that?" Athena wondered.

"Aren't all crime bosses affluent in one way or another? It's their wealth and power that influences those of lower social denominations, after all."

"I guess so…"

"So the double date was actually a plan by you and Brune, the two members of the Valkyries, to investigate Balmung's identity further by discreetly asking Sigurd about it," Phoenix said. "So now that you have it arranged, what next?"

Dona replied, **"The four of us – myself, Caleb Murphy, and Gunther Defekt posing as Sigurd Nibelung – all met up at Brune's house and left at 3:45 PM."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ First off, who is this Caleb Murphy guy that was supposed to be your partner?"

"He's a childhood friend. We live next door to each other, so my sister and I always hung out with him while growing up. He also found out about my connection with the Valkyries and forced me to confess to my legal guardian about it in exchange for agreeing to go with me that night."

"Wow… Caleb and Mr. Krandes must have been fuming when they found out what you were up to…"

"That's saying the least of it, Mr. Wright," she sheepishly wiped her glasses. "In any case, the four of us agreed to meet at the Volsung residence."

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Sebastian exclaimed. "Just now, you said 'Gunther Defekt posing as Sigurd Nibelung'! Why didn't you just say Sigurd's name?"

Dona appeared vexed by his incompetence as she said, "That's the main reason why I didn't want to testify before requesting for those two analyses. If I had done it the other way around, it would have indeed been a completely haphazard accusation to present to the court. I would have had no grounds to base my argument on, and my credibility as a witness would have shot rock bottom in an instant."

"Well, I suppose so… If the fingerprints weren't enough, there are the cell tower records to rely on…"

"Precisely why I said what I said. Based on those pieces of evidence, I can conclusively state that it was Gunther disguising himself as Sigurd for the double date."

"So now knowing this information, what activities did you guys do?" Athena asked.

" **We had dinner at the Oriental Barbeque, then went to Limelight Cinemas to watch the film."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ " Phoenix shouted. "Can you elaborate more on your interactions when you guys were eating dinner?"

"Let me think," Dona pondered, then said, "The meal itself was uneventful, but I couldn't help noticing that 'Sigurd' was transfixed on his cell phone. Normally we can bring phones on Themis' campus, but we can't use them during classes or study periods. Thus, I was unfamiliar with how the real Sigurd behaved when not in class, and was most curious that he was into sports betting. Now knowing that it was Gunther present, he and Caleb got into a spirited debate about which of their favorite basketball teams were going to win the season."

"Did that cell phone inspire you to ask for the cell tower records?"

"It certainly did after finding out how avid of a sports better Gunther is."

"And as far as asking him about Balmung?"

"Well since it was Gunther instead of Sigurd, he obviously didn't know anything when Brune asked him. We had to give up on pressing him lest we reveal ourselves as Valkyries to him."

"Did anything interesting happen during the movie?"

"No. But now that I think about it…"

"What is it, Dona?" Athena asked.

"I wonder what would happen if the security camera footage at Limelight Cinemas were to be reviewed, now that we know it was Gunther captured on it."

"I have to admit," Sebastian said, "they completely fooled me. I'm looking at their dossiers as I speak, and their appearances are remarkably similar. Both of them have blonde hair and brown eyes, although Sigurd's is a lot neater than Gunther's. But even if the footage were to be examined again, the view was from 20 feet off the ground, plus I bet that Gunther could have neatened his appearance for the occasion."

"I concede to that point, Mr. Debeste. His hair was certainly tidy. I would have had no way of telling the two apart based on appearance alone."

"So after the movie, what happened next?"

" **After it was over, we were in front of the theater when Brune dropped her ornament, and 'Sigurd' picked it up for her. She agreed to let him hang on to it until their next date."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ " Phoenix shouted. "So Gunther-as-Sigurd held on to that ornament from then until you bumped into him in the lobby?"

"That's right. He dropped it after our little spill, and I wanted to give it back to him either during a recess or when the trial concluded."

"Why did Brune allow him to hang on to such an important memento of hers?"

"It was a way of promising that they would go on another date, this time without Caleb and I present. Brune expected 'Sigurd' to return it to her when they met again."

"Without you two? Then what was the point of you going with her on the double date in the first place?"

"Brune was extremely nervous just asking Sigurd – that is, the real one - to go on the date to begin with. There's no question that she wouldn't have had the courage to go by herself – our objective was to ask about Balmung after all. Therefore, I had to accompany her in a manner that wouldn't interfere with their date, lest I just be an unwelcome third wheel. The double date was the only solution I could think of."

"That makes sense," Phoenix scratched his chin. "You two were trying to prod Sigurd for more information, but you were afraid of her having cold feet and losing focus."

"I suppose that covers the double date itself," Athena said. "So then you all went back to the Volsung manor, right, Dona?"

"Yes. **We then returned to her house at 8:00 PM, and Kree was worried because she couldn't contact Mrs. Volsung, and that was when we discovered the murder."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ Can you tell us more about what exactly happened when you all found the body?" Phoenix asked.

"Give me a moment," Dona closed her eyes. "It was quite the frantic situation, so some details might not be clear."

"That's fine. Take your time and remember what you can."

"Let's see… First of all, Kree came downstairs and said she couldn't reach her mother via the internal line. She said she waited for us to come back so we could figure out what was going on together, given how Mrs. Volsung had such a paranoid personality. Since her bedroom was locked, Kree must have assumed she kept herself in there for the night. I asked Kree how long she had been trying to reach her mother, and she said ever since 5:30 PM, meaning that two and a half hours passed without any form of contact."

"And you said that you saw Grimhilde alive when you were at the house at 3:45?"

"Yes, I did."

Sebastian took out the autopsy report and said, "According to the coroner, the estimated time of death is about 5:00 PM on November 3."

"That indeed fits with what Ms. DiPrima is saying," Justine nodded. "So then what did you all do when you couldn't contact the victim?"

Dona explained, "We went upstairs, and Brune knocked on the door. She told Kree to get the key to unlock the doorknob, but we found that the chain lock had been set from the inside as well. I was the one to take a closer look through the door crack, therefore making me the very first discoverer of the body."

"That's what Detective Fenberry wrote in her report as well. She stated that you took extra care to guard the scene of the crime so no one could tamper with it until the police arrived. Then she and her officers broke through the chain and investigated from there."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"All right," Phoenix nodded. "We have a better understanding of what transpired with you four that night, coupled with the new discovery of Gunther posing as Sigurd."

"Even if we know conclusively that Gunther was at the double date instead of Sigurd," Sebastian interrupted him, then pointed his baton at Dona, "what point does this serve for the trial? We're not here to debate about questionable behavior during people's private times, you know."

Dona gave him a firm stare, then replied, "The whole purpose of proving Gunther to be the fake Sigurd is to question the validity of the real Sigurd's alibi."

"The real Sigurd's… alibi?" the prosecutor suddenly went pale.

"That's right!" Phoenix latched on to this opportunity. "Before, it was Gunther's alibi that was in doubt, meaning that he would have had the opportunity to kill Grimhilde. Meanwhile, we assumed that Sigurd's alibi was solid because we thought he was with Brunhilde, Dona and Caleb. But Ms. DiPrima's testimony and evidence have proven that Gunther couldn't have done it because _he_ was at the theater at the time of the murder instead of Sigurd! Which means that reasonable doubt has been shifted from Gunther to Sigurd!"

" _Tres bien_ , Mr. Wright!" Athena cheered. "We've finally got something to work with!"

"Mm-hmm! Now all we have to do is get Sigurd's testimony and-"

Suddenly, Brunhilde's voice echoed, _**"OBJECTION!"**_

She stood next to Dona at the witness stand, clearly panicked and desperate. "W-Wait! Wait just a minute, everyone!"

Justine smiled lightly, obviously unperturbed by this sudden development. She had seen it numerous times before; someone was implicated for a crime, only for a relative or friend to jump the gun and object in an attempt to protect them. Nevertheless, she remained calm and asked, "Is something the matter, witness?"

"You can bet my hide that something's the matter! This must be some kind of mistake! There's no way I would confuse that complete loser Gunther for someone as charming as Sigurd! I… I… I can't believe any of this! Gunther scammed Kree of our family's money for his idiotic gambling habit, and then becomes the leader of a murderous gang to fuel his obsession further! I don't care if he's trying to turn over a new leaf! To think that I actually went out with that bastard while Mom was killed is too much! I won't accept it! I _can't_ accept it!"

Brunhilde's eyes overflowed with tears as she bawled uncontrollably. Everyone fell silent. Kriemhilde could only watch her sister with saddened eyes.

Finally, it was Dona who murmured, "Brune… I want you to listen carefully."

"Dona… How could you do this…?"

"I know. But I want you to think about this. We're in a court of law. While rampant emotions are a fact of life here, only the truth is accepted, and I did my civic duty to bring that truth to light. Not just to bring closure for your mother, nor to find out who is trying to kill me; I also did it for you."

"For me…?"

"Let's think of it this way. If Sigurd really wanted to go out with you, he would have done so himself. Instead, even though he did accept your offer to go on the date at Themis, he went through the trouble of having Gunther attend in a very convincing disguise in order to deceive you. Now let's ask these important questions: Why did Sigurd not come himself? Why did he ask Gunther to don a disguise? Why did Gunther agree to it? And, most troubling of all, where was Sigurd actually at during the double date?"

Brunhilde's throat tightened up with anxiety and she held Dona's stalwart hands with her shaking grip. The disparity of such a tall, powerful-looking girl being consoled by another girl who was much shorter and demure than her must have caused some form of disconnect to those observing the scene.

"I already warned you, didn't I?" Dona asked. "Sigurd has the makings of a heartbreaking narcissist. He lures females in with his charming smile and eloquent speech, but then betrays them in horrible ways. He also tends to be a little too proud of himself, which I find difficult to cope with. I could already sense that he was trouble since we're in the same class, so I've been staying away from him. But I was extremely worried that someone as passionate as you would wind up being duped by him in some way or form. That's why I was extra vigilant during the double date."

"Oh… How could I have been so stupid…? I completely ignored your advice and fell for it…"

"I anticipated that you would do that, so there's nothing to worry about. Besides, a real friend knows when to say 'no' or 'watch out', even if they have to do it multiple times."

After a moment, Brunhilde simply nodded and nuzzled her quivering face against Dona's shoulder. The student addressed Justine with, "My sincerest apologies for delaying the trial with this scene. Brune will be retracting her objection. I'll make sure she doesn't interrupt you all any further."

"Very good," the judge replied. "Besides, your conversation has brought up some interesting points that need further evaluation. Mr. Debeste, Mr. Wright, your thoughts on this matter?"

"The defense has only one request," Phoenix declared. "We would like to hear testimony from Sigurd Nibelung regarding his actual whereabouts during the time of the murder! We must also hear about why he had Gunther don a disguise and fool Ms. Volsung during the double date. I'm sure there must be a good reason for all of this!"

"The prosecution has no objections," Sebastian grinned.

Phoenix felt confident that things would proceed smoothly, now that the prosecutor was thinking along the same lines as him. Athena was ready with the Mood Matrix as well.


	23. Turnabout Wing - 13

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Trial: Part 6**

The bailiff received a call from a fellow officer outside saying that the police car escorting Sigurd to the courthouse had arrived. He went to receive the 13-year old teenager, then guided him to Courtroom No. 3's witness stand. Sigurd wore his usual blue gakuran and white coat draped over his shoulders for the occasion, and his expression was one of unbridled confidence.

"Witness, please state your name and occupation," Sebastian said.

Sigurd took a pretentious bow and said, "Good day to you all, ladies and gentlemen. I am Sigurd Nibelung, the son of Nibelung Software's CEO Sigmund Nibelung. My occupation is as a high school student in the defense attorney course at Themis Legal Academy."

"Mr. Nibelung, you have been summoned here today to-"

"Oh, hello, Dona," Sigurd interrupted the prosecutor when he saw his classmate. "If you're sitting in the witness bench, it must mean you were called to testify about something, were you not?"

"I was," she replied curtly, refusing to show any sign of cordiality to him.

"And Brune is with you as well? It hasn't been long since we last saw each other on Friday, yes?"

"Mmngh…" Brunhilde grunted. She felt incredibly insulted that he was insisting on maintaining his farce.

"Oh, I understand how troubling it must be for you, having to watch your sister be accused of your mother's murder. But with Mr. Wright in your corner, I'm sure everything will be just fine. You can take my word for it."

"Mr. Nibelung, if I may," Sebastian grumbled, annoyed that the witness was ignoring him, "you have been summoned to testify about-"

"Mr. Wright, who is that young lady accompanying you at the defense bench?" Sigurd asked Phoenix.

"Oh, me?" Athena replied. "I'm Athena Cykes, his junior lawyer and legal assistant for this trial."

"Permit me to say this, but I can sense that your personality is as bold as your attire. Only those with truly assertive attitudes can have the confidence to wear such vibrant colors to such a serious setting. You certainly know how to break the mold, and it suits you perfectly well, Ms. Cykes."

"Oh, um… Thank you very much," she blushed and stroked her hair bashfully.

"And Her Honor is quite lovely as well. I didn't think I would have the honor to be in the presence of an esteemed member of the Prosecutorial Investi-"

 _ ***SLAM***_

Justine smacked her hammer/gavel hard to silence him. "Witness. The prosecution is speaking to you. Do not besmirch the Goddess of Law with any further small talk."

"Oh, pardon me, Your Honor. So, what does the good prosecutor wish to ask me?" Sigurd finally allowed Sebastian to speak.

"Ugh… Let me try this again… Mr. Nibelung, you have been summoned by the defense to testify about the double date that you and three of your friends had partaken in on November 3, during the time of Grimhilde Volsung's murder."

"Really? That's rather humorous of you, Mr. Wright, trying to refute my airtight alibi. As you already know, I was with them at Oriental Barbeque and Limelight Cinemas the whole night."

Phoenix became thin-lipped as he stared intently at Sigurd. He knew what Sebastian's tactic was; to not say anything about Dona's testimony and evidence in order to expose Sigurd's lies. Sebastian would allow the cross-examination to do the talking for him, and Phoenix was more than willing to comply.

Sigurd noticed the attorney's glare and asked, "Is there perhaps a problem with that?"

"Do you think you could testify more about the details involving this double date?" was the simple question.

"I don't see why not, although I fail to see what the point of asking me is. But if will dispel any suspicions you have of me, then I am willing to divulge those details to you."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: I Was At the Date**

Sigurd said, "Brune approached me at Themis to ask me out on the date, while Dona and Caleb agreed to come with us so we could watch the same movie together. We met at the Volsung residence at 3:45 PM and went to Oriental Barbeque to eat dinner. Then we went to Limelight Cinemas to watch the film. We returned to Brune's place at 8:00 PM, and that was when we discovered the murder."

* * *

"Hmph. He must be regurgitating everything that Gunther told him about what happened that night in order to maintain the disguise," Athena whispered. "It's obvious that Sigurd wasn't there, but he's trying to make it sound credible."

"Yeah, everyone knows that by now. But since Sigurd wasn't here when Dona testified, he doesn't have any idea that we know he's lying. We'll have to punch some big holes in his story and get him to confess that he was absent before we can ask him about where he really was."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: I Was At the Date**

" **Brune approached me at Themis to ask me out on the date, while Dona and Caleb agreed to come with us so we could watch the same movie together."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ " Phoenix exclaimed. "So it wasn't you who asked Brune on the date?"

"No, it wasn't, Ms. Cykes."

"Huh?" Athena blinked. "Uh, I wasn't talking-"

"It was Brune who hailed me down just as I was about to head home from Themis, ma'am."

"Oh, uh… I-I thought that it was the other way around, given how coquettish you are."

"Hah hah, you got me there! But Brune attends a different school than me, and our mutual friend Dona introduced me to her. That was how we became acquainted enough for me to agree to go with Brune. Then on the 3rd, **we met at the Volsung residence at 3:45 PM and went to Oriental Barbeque to eat dinner.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ So when you went inside the house, who did you see?" Phoenix asked.

"Obviously I saw Brune, Dona and Caleb, since I was the last one to arrive. I also caught a glimpse of both the defendant and the victim, Ms. Cykes."

 _Yep, it's official. He's completely disregarding me,_ Phoenix thought bitterly. He asked Athena, "You wanna handle it from here? It's obvious that he doesn't want to talk to me."

"Sure thing, Boss," she was likewise irritated with Sigurd's attitude.

"Why is it a point of contention to ask me about who I saw at Brune's house?" Sigurd wondered.

"We just need to establish the order of events, that's all."

"So what do you intend to ask me next? About what I ate at the restaurant?"

"Of course not… But I was wondering if you had ever used your cell phone while eating."

"My phone? Hm… Now that I think about it, I had used it a couple of times to receive some calls from friends who wanted me to go over to their place to play games. I had to decline, of course."

"Okay," Athena nodded. "So you four finished eating. What did you do next?"

" **Then we went to Limelight Cinemas to watch the film."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ What movie did you guys see?"

" _Bronze Ronin: Wanderer of Ancient Olde Tokyo._ It was quite a fascinating prequel to the _Steel Samurai_ franchise. I can highlight all of the key scenes, if you would like."

"No, please don't. I want to watch it myself later," Athena grumbled, while thinking, _That doesn't mean much when you can watch a camrip of the latest movies online._

"Oh, all right. It would be uncouth of me to give away the spoilers," Sigurd smiled. "Afterwards, **we returned to Brune's place at 8:00 PM, and that was when we discovered the murder.** "

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Athena exclaimed. "Let's back up for a second here, Sigurd."

"Hm? You don't want me to discuss the details behind finding Mrs. Volsung dead?"

"No, that's not necessary. The police reports give me all the information I need," the lawyer said, purposely omitting Dona's testimony. "What I want to talk about is what happened after the movie was over. When you four exited the theater and went out to the parking lot, did anything significant happen?"

"Of course not. The night was no longer young, and we needed to return to our homes before our parents would worry about us being out late," the witness replied.

"Well then, I'm afraid that either your memory of the events is wrong, or you're ignoring the very first lesson that any student of the law would have drilled in their head," Athena said, then dramatically pointed at him. "Don't lie in the courtroom!"

"Ms. Cykes, please," Sigurd chuckled in disbelief. "Are you accusing me of perjury? I know you have a keen sense of fashion, but I didn't think you'd be garishly flamboyant enough to hurl random accusations at people."

"My fashion sense has no bearing on this trial. And as for perjury, that's exactly what you're doing."

"And on what grounds are you saying this, Ms. Cykes? I haven't said anything worth rousing such strong suspicions in you."

"It isn't what you said, per se," she said, then folded her arms and flashed a big grin. "It's what you _didn't_ say."

"Your smug reaction indicates that you have some kind of ace up your mustard-colored sleeves," he raised an eyebrow.

"Because I do. Would you care to take a look at this?" Athena showed him the left-winged hair ornament.

"What is that bizarre trinket you have?"

"You should know what it is. It belongs to Brune and is one of a pair. According to Dona's earlier testimony, she witnessed her giving you the left half when you were all in the parking lot after watching the movie."

"She did…?"

"Yet in your testimony, you said that nothing happened between you two. So can you explain to me why you don't have the trinket on your possession?"

"Oh my," Sigurd scrunched his face. "I-I mean… I didn't think such an unimportant event would be of any relevance to you all. The reason I don't have it with me is because I left it at home."

Athena shook her head. "That's not going to work, Mr. Nibelung. According to Brune, it is a one-of-a-kind ornament that her mother designed for her. Since I have the left half as evidence, it means you can't possibly have it with you."

"Then she gave me the right half."

"Wrong again. Brune gave the right half to Dona on the 4th at the detention center. Ms. DiPrima, can you show it to everyone?"

"Certainly," Dona replied and held it up for the entire courtroom to see clearly.

"B-But that's…" Sigurd became agitated.

"In conclusion," Athena exclaimed, slamming the table twice for extra emphasis, "you don't have Brune's gift with you because _you were never there to receive it!_ "

"I-Is that so? Then what about the cell phone you were so insistent on asking me about earlier? I talked with my friends on the phone and-"

"We already looked into that, and we know you weren't in the area."

"What!?"

"The cell tower records are positive for someone else's phone being present at the two locations you guys went to. The cinema's security footage shows someone who resembles you, there are plenty of eyewitnesses who can say that 'you' were present, _and_ you claim that you used your phone. Yet, your cell phone records don't exist, and you never had Brune's memento in your possession. None of this is adding up whatsoever, Mr. Nibelung."

"What makes you so certain that I never received that thing!?"

"Because we had a fingerprint analysis done on it. It came back conclusive for three unique sets of fingerprints, and this is where it gets rather interesting," Athena said. She used Widget to generate a virtual display in front of her, and she went through its contents while explaining, "The only three people who ever handled it were Brune, Dona, and an unexpected person; Gunther Defekt."

"Ack-!" Sigurd choked up.

"And another thing. Remember how I said that 'someone else's phone was present at the two places you guys went to? Wouldn't you know it, the cell tower records came back positive for Gunther's phone as well."

"B-But that's ridiculous…"

"Really? You think it's ridiculous? Well I think it makes perfect sense if we consider it this way; you had Gunther disguise himself as you to take your place during the double date!"

"No way!" the student barked as his white jacket flapped about in an imaginary strong wind.

Athena slammed the table and demanded, "Sigurd! We already know that you weren't at the double date during the time of the murder!"

"So you withheld that information from me in order to catch me in my own lies?"

"Precisely."

"This is an outrage! You have no right to treat a witness like this! Why, what in the world possessed you to go so far as to investigate both of those items!? Who had such fortitude to-!?"

"It was me," Dona replied.

"Dona!? But, why!?"

"I bumped into Gunther before the trial began and the ornament fell out of his pocket, which I held on to for safekeeping. But even during the date, I couldn't help but notice how peculiarly you were behaving."

"What do you mean 'peculiarly'?" Sigurd demanded.

"Note how Ms. Cykes called you coquettish earlier. Well you displayed no such attitude when you were with us. In fact, you seemed rather detached from the date itself and were more keen on talking about sports with Caleb. You were polite to Brune, sure, but not in the same way that you normally are."

"B-But…"

"You're best friends with Gunther, right? You should know how much he likes to talk about sports. He's also more laid-back than you with your uptight brownnosing towards females."

"Uptight brownnosing!?" Sigurd couldn't help but laugh. "D-Dona, you make it sound like you don't care for my company whatsoever! Aren't we classmates!? We've studied together quite often! Not once have you shown displeasure toward me!"

"That's besides the point. What I want to get at is that after Brune asked you on the date, you then approached Gunther and asked him to take your place by looking like you. Since you both are naturally blonde-haired and brown-eyed, it wouldn't have been that hard for him to pull off. Everyone knows the rest from there, except for one thing…"

"That's right," Phoenix finally said. He pointed at Sigurd and exclaimed, "Now that we've proven you weren't at the double date, _your 'perfect alibi' has been completely destroyed!_ "

"Nnngh… Hmmmngh… Y-You people…" Sigurd growled under his breath. "A-Are you… TRYING… to make ME… the bad guy…!?"

After a moment of uncontrolled snarling, he suddenly stopped. He became expressionless as he flatly asked Phoenix, "So then, Mr. Wright. Enlighten me. Where do _you_ think I was at the time of the murder?"

"That's simple. You were at Nibelung Corporation's headquarters."

"What makes you say that?"

"Your father was the one to investigate the hacker's signal, and he traced it back to his own company building."

"Hacker? Oh, yes, I remember Father calling me and saying he wouldn't be home for a while because he was trying to find a hacker. So Mrs. Volsung's killer was such a person?"

"Right. He had broken through a biometric gun's security system and overrided it in order to operate it like a remote turret, thereby killing the victim with it without being present at the house."

"Interesting. That sure would make for a fascinating mystery novel. But then," Sigurd shrugged, "where do I fit in this picture?"

Phoenix narrowed his eyes. He knew that this was going to be a bluff since he didn't have concrete evidence, but he always went with his instinct anyway. He smacked the table with both hands and made one simple statement:

"That _you're_ the hacker."

Sigurd stared at him for what felt like an eternity. When everyone thought nothing could break this tense silence, the student let out an amused laugh and clenched his abdomen to keep his mirth under control. He even had to wipe a tear away because of how hard he was laughing.

"Oh my, Mr. Wright! Now I understand why they call you the Baron of Bluffs at school!" he chuckled.

"What're you talking about?" Phoenix flashed a grin. "This is no bluff. I'm being quite serious."

"Oh please! Do you think I was born yesterday?"

 _Technically speaking, yes,_ the lawyer thought.

"You're famous throughout campus for bluffing your way through trials to earn your victories. Why, Prof. Lawe has been teaching us strategies behind how bluffs work and when to utilize them at times of crises. Isn't that right, Dona?"

"Prof. Lawe believes it's a science of sorts that needs better understanding," his classmate added. "He thinks it's the secret to your success and has been lobbying to have such lessons be part of the curriculum."

"Er… Look, we're getting off-topic here!" Phoenix objected. "The defense is asserting that you, Sigurd, are the one who hacked into the biometric gun and murdered Grimhilde Volsung."

"And on what grounds are you saying this? Simply because my alibi has been destroyed? That's also the reason Kriemhilde is on trial, isn't it? All legal and constabulary professionals are quick to blame those with poor or no alibis, as if it were clockwork."

"But in this case, you went through the trouble of creating that 'perfect alibi' to begin with so that you didn't have to be at the double date on the night of the murder. So let me ask you this; why did you ask Gunther to disguise himself as you and take your place? If it wasn't to remain at Nibelung's headquarters to operate the gun, what were you actually doing then?"

"Oh, fine," the student witness shrugged. "My plans are usually perfect, but a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, as they say. Since Dona was so enthusiastic about exposing my deception, I'll have to explain my actual whereabouts to satisfy even a tough critic like her."

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: Where I Really Was**

Sigurd explained, "I asked Gunther to go in my place because I had an important get-together with some friends. I helped him with his appearance so that he looked like me, then he left at 3:30 to go to the Volsung's place. Meanwhile, I called my friends and said that I would meet them at the arcade. I left Nibelung Corporation at 4:00 and didn't return until around 6:30."

* * *

"Well there you have it," Sebastian remarked. "Sigurd couldn't have been the killer if he had been gone at 5:00, when the fatal shot was fired."

"Is that so? Well nothing's for certain until I cross-examine him," Phoenix retorted.

"We've got this one, Mr. Wright!" Athena punched the palm of her hand. "If he lied about being at the date, then he must be lying about this as well!"

"Yeah, I know. We just need to find the inconsistency and shove it in his smarmy little face."

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: Where I Really Was**

" **I asked Gunther to go in my place because I had an important get-together with some friends."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ First of all, if you had such an 'important' get-together that took precedence over going out with Brunhilde, why did you accept her request to go with her in the first place?" Phoenix asked.

Sigurd chuckled and brushed his bangs aside. "I might not look it, but I'm actually a very busy guy. I always have so much on my plate that there'll bound to be a mishap with my scheduling."

"So in other words, you claim that you forgot."

"That's right. I recalled the arrangement about a couple of hours prior, and began to panic."

"That's odd. Why would you panic about missing Brune's date?"

"Because my other arrangement involved going with some female friends of mine at school so we could play games at the R-Cade Game Station that just recently opened."

 _What a little douche! Playing video games was more important than going with Brune!?_

"Suffice to say, if my female friends found out I had preferred going with one girl instead of them, they would have been quite upset with me," Sigurd continued, as if proud of the fact. "You might not understand, but it's difficult to be popular."

"Ugh… This kid is making my skin crawl…" Athena grumbled.

"So in order to fulfill your end of the arrangement with Brune, you asked your buddy Gunther for a last-minute favor," Phoenix summarized.

"Yes. **I helped him with his appearance so that he looked like me, then he left at 3:30 to go to the Volsung's place,** " Sigurd explained.

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ Why would Gunther easily agree to this plan? What does he get out of it?"

"Well, as much as I don't like making ill of my best friend, Gunther is easily swayed by money. I paid him $500 to do it for me, and I would cover the expenses for the meal and movie tickets separately."

"Five hundred dollars!?" Phoenix yelped. "That's hardly what I'd call a simple 'favor'!"

"I knew he was in debt from betting poorly on the last basketball game, so that money was to help him cover those losses."

"So let me ask this about Gunther. Is he the type of guy who would jump off a bridge if you told him to?"

"I don't think he'd be _that_ desperate, but he and his father don't tend to make the best decisions for themselves, especially when it comes to their finances. Gunther often comes to me for advice about any difficult situations he's in. The scandal that our fathers were involved in had no bearing on our friendship."

"I see. So with the situation he was in, and from all the times he asked you for help, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to agree to pull off this disguise," Phoenix said and thought, _I don't think he's lying about this part. There's no question that Gunther agreed to the plan, regardless of the reasons they had._

Justine said, "Now that you have Mr. Defekt taking your place at the double date, what were your own plans for the night, young man?"

" **I called my friends and said that I would meet them at the arcade,** Your Honor."

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ " Phoenix stopped Sigurd. "Why were you more interested in going there?"

"Like I said, it was a new arcade and gaming store that just opened, and I wanted to peruse the machines that they had there. I have an R-Cade membership card, and my female friends begged me to help them get access so they could play those games too."

"What kinds of games are available there?"

"Oh, all kinds. Racing, shooting, schmup, casual, you name it. They sell memberships, consoles and games as well, plus there's an internet café with a small coffee shop at the back. I was ecstatic to go there, and it didn't let me down whatsoever."

"So I take it you're an avid gamer."

"Of course. Joysticks are like my external veins and arteries."

"You wouldn't happen to be into sports games, would you?"

"Not necessarily, since that genre suffers from severe quality and licensing issues. Gunther likes them though, no matter how poorly made they are."

"How about shooting games?"

"Those are my personal favorite. My friends often compliment me on how good of a shot I am, particularly with headshots."

"Okay, I think I get the idea," the attorney stopped him. "So after Gunther left, what did you do?"

" **I left Nibelung Corporation at 4:00 and didn't return until around 6:30."**

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Phoenix exclaimed, and slammed the table with his hands. "Here's where I start to have problems with your story, Sigurd. You say that you left at 4 PM and didn't return until 6:30 PM. But I have incontrovertible evidence that points to you having never left Nibelung Corporation at all."

"Oh, really?" One of Sigurd's eyes narrowed when he heard this.

"Do tell, Mr. Wright. What piece of evidence contradicts the witness' testimony?" Justine asked.

"It is Sigmund's security camera footage that he brought with him earlier," Phoenix explained. "First of all, we see him enter his room at 3:15 with Gunther, after classes ended at Themis. Now let's examine the timeframe which the witness is talking about."

He played the footage on high speed, and everyone could see that Gunther was actually standing at the entrance to Sigurd's room. At 3:15, Sigurd met up with him and they entered the room together. At the 3:30 PM mark, as Sigurd testified, Gunther exited wearing Sigurd's clothes and having a neater hairstyle.

"As you can see, it is definitely Gunther who leaves the premises," Phoenix explained. "Even though he looks like Sigurd now, we already have the cell tower records and the fingerprint analysis to show us that he was not at Nibelung Corporation during the murder."

"All right," Justine nodded. "So if the witness' claim is true, we should also see him leaving after Gunther. Let's take a look."

Phoenix continued playing the recording, speeding it up from 3:30 until 6:30. To the gallery's astonishment, the door to Sigurd's room never opened again.

"Nnngh…" Sigurd clenched his teeth. He never anticipated that the defense had such compelling evidence in their possession.

"Well there you go," Phoenix said. "Clearly the witness is lying about going to the arcade that night. If he actually did, then we would have to see him exiting his room at 3:30 and coming back at 6:30, but there's absolutely no indication that he ever left his room for the whole night."

"So that answers the question of where Sigurd _really_ was during the time of the murder," Athena added. "He was in his room at Nibelung Corporation – the same facility where the hacker operated the gun and killed the victim! The defense asserts that Sigurd convinced Gunther to pose as him for two reasons; to solidify his alibi, and to commit the crime unseen!"

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ " Sigurd shouted. "You make it sound like I was the only person in the entire building! Father was there as well! So were his employees! Any one of them could have done it!"

"Yes, we know that already. Sigmund testified that he was there during the time of the murder too."

"What? Father testified?"

"Right. Remember how he told you he was investigating a hacker with the police? Well, he was helping them in _this_ case. He told us that he restored the connection to the hacker's terminal and said it originated at Nibelung Corporation. However, he refused to tell us who owned the computer that was used for the crime. He even ordered one of his subordinates to destroy the evidence."

"Is that so," Sigurd frowned, then a slight smile curled on his lips. "Then if he committed evidence spoliation, wouldn't that thus make him the culprit? He didn't want to reveal all of the results in order to cover up his own crime."

"There's also the possibility," Athena pointed at him, "that he's trying to cover for someone… Someone like his own son!"

"Hah hah! This tale is getting so tall that it'll collapse from its own height!" the witness chuckled. "Okay, so my behavior is rather questionable. But does that automatically make me a killer? Of course not. All I did in my room that night is play an MMORPG. I'll concede that I'm very smart, but not smart enough to plan such an elaborate murder."

"Hmph! Then I'm sure you won't have any objection to the defense asking the police to reverse-trace the hacker's signal from your computer back to the biometric gun."

"A reverse-trace…?" Sigurd murmured.

"Why not? If Sigmund positively traced it from the gun to his corporation, then it would be sensible to do it the other way around as well. So long as we figure out who had suspicious behavior in the building that night, then we just issue a warrant to see if one of the terminals belonging to those people complete the whole connection."

The witness suddenly became tight-lipped and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Then I should send some engineers over to your room and perform the search," Justine said. "If you have an objection, you'd best voice it now."

"…Mr. Wright? Ms. Cykes?" Sigurd murmured.

"Hm? What is it?" Phoenix asked.

"I just wanted to say something to you both."

"Yes?"

"… Well done."

"What?"

Sigurd opened his eyes, and everyone could tell that his entire demeanor had changed. Gone was the talkative, overly-friendly boy who loved to play video games. In his place was someone far more sinister. His loose platinum blonde bangs hung over his eyes so much that they shaded his entire upper face, giving him a somewhat demonic glare. He grabbed something from his white jacket, which turned out to be a white peaked cap with the symbol of a sword on the front, and placed it on his head to let the visor shield his eyes further. Someone's hand delivered a bandaged baseball bat to him, and he brandished it like a sword over his shoulder.

"Well done, defense," the transformed Sigurd gloated. "As an up-and-coming attorney myself, I can't help but have admiration for your single-minded pursuit."


	24. Turnabout Wing - 14

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Trial: Part 7**

No one could believe what they were hearing. Here was the son of Nibelung Corporation's CEO congratulating the defense on successfully proving his culpability in Grimhilde Volsung's murder. Any pretense he had in his charming school boy persona was gone. Now he was a cold-blooded murderer reminiscent of a _banchou_ , or a Japanese gangster. Everyone in the gallery chatted amongst each other, wondering what in the world this meant.

" _ **ORDER IN THE COURT!"**_ Justine commanded with a loud voice, smashing her hammer upon the ground to silence the crowd. Once the astonished audience stopped clamoring, the judge gave Sigurd a firm stare and asked, "Am I to take this as a confession, witness?"

"Not much else I can do at this point," Sigurd shrugged. "As the defense is claiming, you'll find that my computer traces back to the gun, and that I was the user logged into that terminal during the time of the murder."

"So you're the killer hacker that we're looking for."

"That I am. Here in the flesh."

"I don't believe this…" Phoenix murmured. In all of his years defending his clients in court, not once did any culprits he exposed turn out to be minors. He doubted anyone in society would have imagined this turn of events either. Sigurd was only 13 years old, yet he committed first-degree murder in such a heinous and convoluted fashion. What was he supposed to be treated as going from here? As an adult, or as a juvenile?

"Hey, Mr. Prosecutor," Sigurd called out to Sebastian. "I didn't see you objecting to anything that the defense was saying. Aren't you supposed to be proving the defendant's guilt here?"

"As much as I would like to, her innocence has already been proven," Sebastian replied. "Mr. Nibelung's security camera footage has seen to that already, and since there's no evidence of her colluding with anyone in a murder-for-hire scheme, it means she cannot be held liable in any way."

"Seriously? Damn, there's a whole lot I missed, isn't there? You lot kept your traps shut and let the defense pick me apart until there was nothing left, huh? That's quite the conspiracy the defense and prosecution have going on here. If it hadn't been for Gunther being such a complete dumbass plus Dona being so suspicious of me, I would have gotten away with it scot free."

He turned his devilish eyes toward Dona and said, "I don't know what I did to make you dislike me, though. I always liked you. You're calm, collected, and smart. Just the type of lady I would've wanted to marry in the future, rather than one of those no-good Volsung sisters that Father arranged for me to marry behind my back."

"Is that the motive for killing Mrs. Volsung?" she asked. Brunhilde seethed with silent rage next to her, but she kept her hand on her shoulder to restrain her.

"Yeah, that's right. When I found out about it, naturally I wanted to object. But Father can be quite… _controlling_ at times, if you know what I mean. If something doesn't go his way, or someone doesn't behave the way he expects them to, you can bet that he'll see to it, whether it'd be through abuse, defamation, or otherwise. He'll ruin you until you're little more than a shell of your former self.

"As I'm just a weak little boy, I had no power to resist his abusive will, and trying to convince Grimhilde was out of the question. She needed the money for her failing company, and I was her ticket to being a gold-digger. The only thing I could think of doing was offing her so that the deal would become null and void, and that's precisely what I did."

"I see…"

" _ **HOLD IT!"**_

Another male's voice interjected, which turned out to be Gunther. He had returned from the detention center where Gippich was being held and overheard a good portion of Sigurd's testimony and confession. He got up on the witness stand and shouted, "What the hell's gotten into you, dude!? You don't go blowin' people's brains out over such stupid things!"

"Oh, Gunther," Sigurd sighed. "You wouldn't understand. Your father might be an idiot, but at least he doesn't abuse you like mine does."

"Abuse you? What do you mean?"

"All I am to my old man is a bargaining chip to make his company more successful. Even if I _was_ doomed to meekly play my role, he had to go and squander my life on such a one-sided deal that would have benefited the Volsungs. That was the last straw for me. If I couldn't stop him, then I had to stop the deal itself."

"Are you serious!? Mr. Nibelung puts you above all else, like any dad should do!"

"Does he now? Does he _really_ think about my well-being? Or is he only thinking about maintaining his dream?"

"Dude… Why are you saying stuff like this? You've really changed… Ever since Mrs. Nibelung died in that car accident, you've been acting weirder and weirder lately. We used to talk about everything, and now you've been avoiding me while playing games and flirting with girls left and right."

Sigurd brushed his bangs aside, completely disregarding his friend's bombardment of questions.

"Gunther," Phoenix said, "can you explain a bit about Mrs. Nibelung's death?"

"Sure, Mr. Wright. Her name was Hjørdis Nibelung, an immigrant from Norway. About seven years ago, she and Sigurd were involved in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, and she died on the way to the hospital. The police weren't able to find the driver that caused the accident though."

"Since Sigmund is involved in this case, I decided to look into his history a bit and came across some articles about Mrs. Nibelung's death," Sebastian said, and the bailiff gave copies to the defense team.

"I see. You think Sigurd started to change after that incident?" Phoenix asked Gunther.

"Yeah, no doubt. Not just Sigurd either. Mr. Nibelung was also acting more and more detached from his son. Sigurd often told me that whenever he wanted to talk to his old man, he'd just turn around and dump all of his complaints onto him instead. And then he started making accusations against Mr. Nibelung when it came to making decisions about his future – that he couldn't manage his investments until he was 21 instead of 18, or that he had to go to Themis to study law, or that he would be moved overseas once he graduated. Mr. Nibelung was making all of the decisions for Sigurd without his input."

"Well, he's only 13 years old. How can you expect someone so young to make such life decisions for himself?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't just that. Mr. Nibelung would prohibit Sigurd from going out with friends, force him to study, and even monitor him on a constant basis to make sure he didn't rebel against him. I don't really know for myself, but Sigurd is adamant that Mr. Nibelung is not allowing him to live his own life. This whole murder must be in retaliation against that."

"For a complete moron, you can be surprisingly astute when you put some effort into it," Sigurd chuckled. "Better not strain yourself though. Your precious few brain cells could die from overwork."

"Maybe I'm an idiot, but at least I'm not a killer!"

Justine slammed her gavel and commanded, "That's enough!"

"Good God, the Nibelungs are more screwed up than I could ever imagine…" Brunhilde whispered to Dona bitterly. "What the hell was I thinking, believing that Sigurd was so charming? He took Mom away from Kree and I over such a selfish reason! How can he already be a complete sociopath at that age!?"

"I don't know…" the legal student murmured quietly. Throughout Sigurd's shocking confession, her mind kept drifting back to the details of the entire case. Her gaze looked so distant that Brunhilde asked, "What's the matter?"

"It's just that... Even though your mother's murder has been solved, it feels like there's still a lot we're missing."

"Missing? Hey, now that I think about it, doesn't Sigurd being Mom's murderer also solve the mystery behind your own attempted murder?"

"Yes, but that's just the thing. Is it possible to add an additional charge to his record for my case, or is it impossible to prove that he did it?"

"Can't the computer guys work their magic and figure that out?"

"Maybe. But I wonder if a different method would be faster."

"Such as?"

Athena's extra-sensitive hearing picked up the girls' conversation, and she glanced over at them before asking, "Hey, Dona? Do you want us to help you out with that?"

"Help me out?" Dona wondered.

"If you want the defense to indict Sigurd on attempted murder charges as well, then we can always pursue that here."

"Hm… I'm just worried that even if the computer forensics team's finding corroborates his confession, it doesn't mean that he'll just as easily confess to the second shooting. He could try to wriggle his way out of that too."

"Then we'll put him back in his place, just like Mr. Wright and I did!" Athena became determined. "Besides, if you have a 'different method' in mind, we'd like to hear it."

Without listening for Dona's approval, the eager attorney slammed the desk and shouted, "Your Honor! Now that we have found Mrs. Volsung's killer, we still need to establish his culpability regarding Ms. DiPrima's near-murder!"

"Do you have anything substantial to pursue the second shooting further during this trial, Ms. Cykes?" Justine asked. "It would be better to save her case for a different hearing."

"All we need is a 20 minute recess to talk with our impromptu 'client' about it. After all, the details behind her case were revealed to have an overlapping connection, and I believe it needs to be addressed immediately."

"Hm…" the judge mused for a moment. "Mr. Debeste, do you have any objections?"

"I'm not exactly sure where the defense is going with this, but I'll see about filing charges against Sigurd Nibelung for the murder of Grimhilde Volsung, as well as having a computer forensics technician investigate his terminal during the recess," Sebastian said.

"Very well. Then court will be adjourned for a 20 minute recess."

She slammed her gavel to finalize her decision.

* * *

 **November 5, 2027**

 **1:40 PM**

 **District Court – Defendant Lobby No. 3**

"Whoo! I'm feeling pumped!" Athena flashed the peace sign. "I didn't think we'd get a confession out of that punk so easily!"

"But it's not over yet," Phoenix scratched his chin. "There's still the second shooting that I'm worried about. Since Dona said that she was being targeted by someone, there isn't any guarantee that Sigurd is that person."

"Yes," Dona said. "I'm not sure what the technician will find, but I have my doubts as to whether or not he left any traces behind. Sure, it's been conclusively proven that he operated the gun for the first shooting, but he could make any excuse up for avoiding an additional attempted murder charge, like saying that someone else was behind the controls in his absence. I need to know for sure that he did or didn't do it so that I can feel safe knowing that the culprit is behind bars."

"All right, let's go over the facts for your case," the blue-suited lawyer said while reading her files. "First of all, we know that it was Gippich Defekt who went to the Volsungs' place to install the biometric gun, and he did so on behalf of the Fafnir Crusaders and their boss, Balmung. Meanwhile, Balmung was hired by someone else to assassinate you. He probably had some other method in mind for that, but when he saw you enter that room with me through the mini-camera, he saw it as his chance to kill two birds with one stone. But he missed you and shot out the window instead."

"Maybe he missed because it was a spur of the moment crime and couldn't focus," Athena pondered while touching her earring. "But wait a minute… If Gippich snuck the gun in for Balmung, and Sigurd confessed to hacking into it to kill Grimhilde… Boss, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you!?"

"I think it's a high probability at this point," Phoenix became serious.

"Oh, no way…"

"Yeah… _Sigurd is Balmung_."

Dona became statue still with anticipation from hearing those words. Athena, on the other hand, was completely dumbstruck.

"If that's true, that would make him one of the youngest crime bosses in history!" she gasped.

"Young or old, he still has to answer for his crimes, Athena. It's not just Mrs. Volsung we're talking about here; there's also Dona, Sigmund, Brunhilde, Kriemhilde, and all of the other people whose lives he ruined under that persona that he needs to repent for," Phoenix said. "We've done our job defending Kriemhilde, but now we need to take it up a notch. If we can prove that Sigurd and Balmung are the same person, we could help shut down that gang for good. Solving Dona's case will be the key to that."

"So how are we going to prove it? There's no way he would confess to being a criminal empire's leader on top of being a killer."

"You think so?" Dona asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"Sigurd obviously has a penchant for talking, right? What if you were able to use it against him?"

"Oh, I see. So you want us to try springing a trap on him?" Phoenix asked.

"But what kind of trap?" Athena asked. "It would have to be something he says of course, but what are we supposed to lure him into saying?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you two about – to formulate a strategy to ensnare Sigurd in that trap," Dona said.

Just then, a second male's voice interjected, "I see, I see! So this is why the defense wanted a recess!"

They turned around to find Sebastian standing in front of the door, smacking his baton in his hand.

"Prosecutor Debeste! You were eavesdropping on us!?" Athena raged.

"I'm letting the boys in blue handle Sigurd's arrest, so that freed my hands to check up on Ms. DiPrima. So implicating Sigurd as a crime boss is your next objective? It's not enough for you to clear your client's name and nab the real bad guy?"

"Hey, I'm glad that we finally caught the guy, but if he really is Balmung, then he has a lot more to answer to!" Phoenix exclaimed.

"'Justice for all', huh? Then do tell. If Sigurd is Balmung, how are you going to prove it? Without substantial evidence tying him to the second shooting, you guys don't have a case. That's why you're strategizing a way to get around this massive loophole, right?"

"Actually," Dona said to Sebastian, "I'm glad you showed up."

"Oh? How come?"

"I thought it would be helpful if the prosecution understood the strategy in order to not give Sigurd the upper hand by accident. I was wondering if you could cooperate the same way you and Mr. Wright worked together to expose Sigurd's lies."

"That was different. The trial already showed massive amounts of evidence against him, so I obliged and kept my mouth shut. But this is little more than a baseless allegory. How exactly do you plan on proving your point?"

For the remainder of the recess, the quartet talked about the strategy Dona had in mind. Sebastian sounded intrigued by this, so he said in conclusion, "Fine, I'll give you this chance. But this trial has dragged on for long enough, and Judge Courtney wishes to adjourn by 3:00 at the latest. Your time limit is until 2:30. If the defense can't prove anything, I'll have no choice but to dismiss your accusation and wrap things up so we can get Sigurd in juvenile detention."

"Sounds good!" Athena became enthusiastic. "I think court's about to reconvene, so let's go back."

Dona followed the attorneys back to the courtroom, feeling glad that they were willing to listen to her and formulate a plan that would help solve this conundrum. But ultimately, the idea that Sigurd and Balmung were one and the same was little more than a fledging hypothesis at best. She wouldn't blame anyone for thinking she was insane if she made such a claim without evidence. Yet, that's what they had to do; prove the unthinkable without physical proof.

* * *

 **November 5, 2027**

 **2:00 PM**

 **District Court – Courtroom No. 3**

Justine slammed her gavel and announced, "Court will now reconvene. Defense, have you finished speaking with Ms. DiPrima?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Phoenix said. "Although my original client has been cleared of her charges, Ms. DiPrima asked us to look into her case as well and determine if Sigurd is involved with it."

"'Her case'?" Sigurd asked from the witness stand, flanked by two officers. "Care to explain what's going on here?"

"Then I'll give the opening statement," Sebastian said and read some papers. "On November 4th at approximately 12:00 PM, Mr. Wright and Ms. DiPrima were involved with investigating Mrs. Volsung's murder. They were in her room listening to Detective Fenberry's findings when a single shot rang out. It missed Ms. DiPrima's head by millimeters and blew out a window. The shot originated from the very same biometric gun that the hacker – namely you – used to kill Mrs. Volsung."

"So what you're saying is that the defense wants to indict me on an additional attempted murder charge too?" Sigurd raised an eyebrow. "Dona, what's gotten into you? You're not satisfied with me getting my just desserts for whacking the old bat? You gotta go blame me for this crazy incident too?"

She didn't say anything. She simply stared at him with unflinching eyes.

"If you want to talk to our client, you'll have to do it through us," Athena retorted.

"Fine, whatever," Sigurd shrugged. "So I've been dragged back here to give testimony, right?"

"Precisely. We want to know where you were and what you were doing at 12 PM."

"Heh… I give up. Since you guys love listening to me talk, I'll give you as much information as your hearts desire."

 _He's going to lie, I just know it! To admit that he's the culprit is to admit to being Balmung as well, and that would be disastrous for him,_ Athena thought.

* * *

 **TESTIMONY: I'm Not the Shooter!**

Sigurd said, "After the police allowed Gunther to leave the Volsungs' place, he came straight to my place and told me everything that happened. He was so flustered that he became too exhausted to go home himself, so I let him stay at my place. He was asleep well into the late morning, and must have woke up when I was outside of my room for a bit. He found my set-up and must have thought it was a new game because he toyed around with it for a minute. Gunther's finger slipped however, accidentally firing the gun and ruining my closed room mystery plot."

* * *

"So, as you can see, this is all nothing more than an unfortunate accident on Gunther's part," Sigurd concluded confidently.

"How deplorable!" Athena murmured under her breath. Widget turned red to express her contained fury. "He's trying to pin this on his best friend now!?"

"Looks like Sigurd sees him as nothing more than his ideal fall guy," Phoenix replied. "But it's obvious that there are a bunch of holes in his story. Time to don our thinking caps again and outwit this pint-sized charlatan at his own game."

"I like how you're thinking, Boss!"

* * *

 **CROSS-EXAMINATION: I'm Not the Shooter!**

" **After the police allowed Gunther to leave the Volsungs' place, he came straight to my place and told me everything that happened."**

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ What did Gunther talk to you about?" Phoenix asked.

"Everything, from beginning to end. Of course, I asked him if anyone saw through his disguise, and he said that no one did. Well except for Dona, but she never said anything to him at that point. **He was so flustered that he became too exhausted to go home himself, so I let him stay at my place.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ You told us before about how Sigmund is very controlling of who you're allowed and not allowed to hang out with."

"Yeah, he is. But Gunther's an exception. We've all known each other since we were babies, so Father would have had no reason to be suspicious of him. Gunther's stayed at my place numerous times, so this should be no exception, Mr. Wright," Sigurd explained.

"Okay. So how long did he stay until?"

" **He was asleep well into the late morning, and must have woke up when I was outside of my room for a bit.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ Why would you go outside your room if you're such a shut-in?"

"Oh, come on. What do you take me for, one of those disturbed people who refuse to have any contact with the outside world? I'm perfectly fine with leaving my room to have lunch in the kitchen. While I was out, **he found my set-up and must have thought it was a new game because he toyed around with it for a minute.** "

" _ **HOLD IT!**_ " Phoenix yelled and slammed his palms on the table. "Why didn't you do anything to disable your terminal!?"

"I'm pretty sure I _did_ , Mr. Wright. After all, I had to turn the device 'off' so that it wouldn't fire at the police during their investigation," Sigurd retorted. "But when inexperienced people play around with devices beyond their comprehension, bad things can happen. **Gunther's finger slipped however, accidentally firing the gun and ruining my closed room mystery plot.** "

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ The only thing that's slipping up here is your testimony! _"_

"Pray tell, why are you crudely pointing that notorious index finger of yours in my general direction?"

"I'll tell you why. According to Gunther's statement, he said that he went to another friend's house after returning from the theatre on the 3rd. Mr. Defekt was out drinking that same night, so he had to stay at someone else's place. The next morning, Gunther got a call from the police saying his father was arrested for resisting the subpoena. Therefore, Gunther was at the station at the time of the second shooting, and thus-!"

Phoenix pointed at Sigurd again.

"He couldn't have been the shooter, as you so claim!"

"AAARGH! Gunther… YOU… and your… LOOSE lips!" Sigurd raged.

"Yeah, dude. Me and my loose lips are gonna help sink your ship," Gunther retorted. "If that's how you're going to be towards me, then I'm done being your patsy. You're on your own from here."

"Hmph!"

"Sigurd Nibelung," Justine gave him a curt glare. "This is the third time you have committed perjury in my courtroom. As a now-former student of Themis Legal Academy, I consider your conduct to be a disgrace to the institution's reputation, and a waste of my courtroom's valuable time. From henceforth, any further lying from you will not be tolerated. Defy this, and you will be seeing extra years and heavy fines added to your murder sentence."

Sigurd cussed under his breath. "So that's how it's going to be, huh? Then I have no choice but to tell you all the truth."

"You should have done so from the start."

"There was a good reason for it, Your Honor. You see, Nibelung Corporation is hiding a very dark secret from the world, but now that it has come to this, I have no choice but to reveal it to everyone."

Sebastian said, "Do tell. We're all ears."

Sigurd spread his arms out in a grandiose fashion as if he were addressing everyone in the world.

"The truth is… Father is the leader of a criminal empire, and I have been forced to do his bidding!"

 _Oh, this is gonna be good,_ Phoenix thought, resisting his urge to laugh. He played along however and asked, "Can you elaborate for us?"

"Of course," the gangster boy replied. "You know of the Fafnir Crusaders that have been causing trouble for this city lately? Their leader, being my father, goes by the name Balmung, and he had Gunther inducted into his ranks to follow his orders on the streets. Likewise, I was forced to do what Father said, lest I be subject to the Chicago Typewriter, if you get my drift."

"You're saying he'd kill his own son to keep him quiet?"

"No question about it. Nibelung Corporation's influence is spreading far and wide in this city, both as a legitimate business and as an underworld empire. After all, selling security systems is pointless unless there's a threat to protect your homes, valuables and lives from. Organizing the Fafnirs' activities was the thing he needed to make his business thrive."

"That makes sense," Athena agreed. "Kind of like how computer companies are purported to send viruses into the internet so that they can develop anti-virus software to sell."

"Right? Businesses cannot prosper unless there's a demand, and with how Father's company is doing, it's safe to say that there's a high demand for his products and services. Since I'm his son, I had to go along with his schemes if I am to inherit the company in the future."

"From what we understand, the Fafnirs accept jobs from people who want someone dead," Phoenix said. "We've also established that someone contracted Balmung to kill Ms. DiPrima."

"You're absolutely right, sir," Sigurd smiled. "Father was contacted by someone from a well-known organization. He found out about her being my classmate and ordered me to keep tabs on her. He was the one to come up with the idea of having me lure her to the construction site where we got into that girder incident. I could have never imagined that that's what he would pull, even going so far as to put my life in danger despite being his only heir."

"Didn't some punks from the Fafnirs cause that girder to fall?"

"Yes, they did. Since Father has a large stake in that project, he's privy to all kinds of details regarding the construction site. He could have told them what to vandalize and what metals to steal for their operations without any trouble. Of course, Dona and I escaped from certain death, and Father was very cross with me for failing my job. He needed to concoct some new method of killing her so that it looked like an accident, as his client wanted."

"And as far as killing Grimhilde, was he in on that as well?"

"No. That was all for my own personal reasons, as I've already stated. I had to commit that crime in a manner that Father wouldn't have found out, leading to the idea of the closed room murder. I cooperated with Gippich on that plan due to his grudge against Father."

 _That's odd. If Gippich and Sigmund don't get along with each other, why would Gippich suddenly join the Fafnirs if he knew that Sigmund was Balmung?_ Phoenix thought. He said aloud, "Okay, so let's skip forward to the second shooting. If you believe that Sigmund is the shooter, how do you propose he would have gotten into your computer?"

"That's a no-brainer, Mr. Wright," Sigurd scoffed. "He has easy access to my room, so he must have went inside to look at my computer while I was out. Remember how I talked about his controlling personality? That also extends to observing my digital activities, probably to find some excuse to punish me. That's why I'm always careful to delete all of my history before logging off."

"So you're saying that your father found your set-up and, as Balmung, he frantically worked on severing the connection to the Volsung residence to erase the evidence."

"Right. That was when he saw Dona on the camera and found his chance to complete his mystery client's job, regardless of the crime I just committed. In order to compensate for her shorter height however, he had to angle the gun down and to the left a bit. His aim was poor and he missed her, thereby shooting out the window instead."

Dona, Phoenix and Athena fell into a grim silence. Sebastian angrily clenched his teeth and bent his baton so hard that it could have broken at any second. Justine simply gazed upon the talkative witness with her usual calm stare. Everyone in the gallery dared not to even breathe too loudly.

"Hey, what's the big deal?" Sigurd asked. "Are you guys so shocked by my logic that words fail you?"

Dona murmured quietly, "That is…"

"Admit defeat already! You have no proof against me!"

She looked away from him with a forlorn expression.

"What's the problem?" the gangster boy tensed up when he noticed how his pensive classmate averted his gaze.

"I don't think she has the heart to say it, so I will do so on her behalf," Phoenix said. "It's one simple question, really: How did you know the way that the gun was angled during the second shot?"

"How did I know?" Sigurd murmured.

"Grimhilde's murder was in the media, but the police withheld _all_ information about Dona's incident to avoid frightening the public. Everyone has been on edge lately due to the recent string of gang-related crimes. Therefore, the only ones who know about the specific details of the second shooting are the police, the prosecution, the defense, the victim and, of course, the culprit."

"But what 'specific details' are you talking about!?"

"You said it yourself, and with complete confidence too. The gun was angled exactly as you claimed in order to aim at Ms. DiPrima's head. But how do you know that when it was never mentioned in the media?"

"H-Hah! The media is nothing! I don't get my information from biased public reporters!" Sigurd became agitated.

"You got him on the ropes, Mr. Wright!" Athena smiled. "The voice of his heart is showing tremendous discord now!"

"All right. Then, Mr. Nibelung, where _did_ you get that information?" Phoenix demanded.

"Uh, well, that's… Oh yes! Father told me after I found him meddling on my computer!"

" _ **OBJECTION!**_ "

The voice didn't belong to Phoenix. Instead, the familiar baritone boom came from Sigmund. He took to the witness stand and declared, "Whatever my son is telling you is nothing more than another one of his lies. My alibi for the second shooting can be corroborated."

"Then what were you doing during that time?" Justine asked.

"I was in the middle of a video conference call with one of my associates from overseas."

"A-A-A _video_ … call…!?" Sigurd gasped. His story of Sigmund being Balmung and Dona's supposed shooter was immediately destroyed. Finally, he had no one left to turn to as his new scapegoat, leaving him as the only suspect.

"Sigurd…" Sigmund stared at his astonished son, now having all of his crimes exposed for everyone in the courtroom to hear. Yet despite how Sigurd called him an abusive father, Sigmund could only find the energy to be heartbroken and dejected, rather than loud and violent as portrayed. The CEO continued with sad eyes, "Please stop this."

"F-Father…?"

"You're right. I've been a terrible father to you. Ever since your mother died, it seems both of us withdrew from each other and became absorbed in our material passions. I turned to fulfilling my dream of making my company greater to escape the pain of losing your mother, but that meant also shoving those dreams onto your unwilling shoulders. You must have cracked under the pressure and turned to crime to unleash your hatred.

"When I found out that you used that deadly gun not once, but twice, I finally realized the extent of how dark your soul had become. Yet during the course of this trial, I destroyed that evidence and refused to testify about you to protect my company. I thought I could have dealt with your behavior myself, but it seems you are beyond even my help. As your father, all I can do is accept your sentence and go from there.

"If you say that I am controlling you like a puppet, then I will cut the strings now. I will rest my company's future upon someone who would be happy to continue its legacy. I will set you free of my control and let you pursue your own life, once you have atoned for your crimes as Grim's killer and the Fafnir Crusaders' boss, Balmung."

Sigurd fell into a dismal silence. His lip quivered, but no one could tell if it was from grief or anger. Finally, he glared at Sigmund and growled in a guttural voice unfitting of a young teenager, "'Set me free', you say? _Don't make me laugh._ "

"Sigurd…" his father moaned.

"You're simply cutting loose a blight to your company's reputation, just like you did with Gippich."

"That's not true! You're my _son_! Even though I acted foolishly before, I'll always place you above fulfilling my ambition!"

"What a joke. Say, I've got something to tell you, _Sigmund Nibelung_. You wanna know why I started the Crusaders?"

"Why?"

"Because with it, I could control both organizations and shape the economy as I saw fit. The fruit of your labor would have become the front for my organization. In essence, once the authorities inevitably discovered that connection… _**I could destroy that dream you cling to so dearly!**_ "

Sigmund couldn't find anything worth saying to express his sheer horror.

"I was so close…" Sigurd continued rambling. "I was _so_ close to accomplish my own dream of ruining your beloved company. But then it all began to go wrong…"

Suddenly, he turned his flared eyes toward Dona!

" _ **BECAUSE OF YOU!**_ "

Before anyone could react, Sigurd used his baseball bat to knock aside Sigmund and the bailiffs guarding him, then made a mad dash toward the stunned Dona. Since no one had anticipated him to do something like this, everyone was in an uproar. Her mind blanked out as she stared at the crazed Sigurd as he raised his weapon and prepared to swing down upon her head. She covered her cranium with her arms, waiting for the blow to strike.

It never came.

The bat definitely struck someone, but it wasn't Dona. She looked up to find that Brunhilde had gotten in front of her and took the hit on her own head. Blood trickled down her cheek and chin, but she ignored the pain and gave an even meaner glare at the surprised Sigurd. Before he could attack again, Brunhilde punched him clean in the solar plexus.

" _ **THIS IS FOR MOM!"**_

She clenched her other hand into a tight fist and punched his cheek so hard that she could feel his jaw bone and teeth beneath his skin.

" _ **AND FOR KREE!"**_

She jumped a good five feet off the ground and delivered an impressive aerial roundhouse kick to his face.

" _ **AND FOR DONA!"**_

Brunhilde land in front of the dazed Sigurd and got into a squatting position.

" _ **AND THIS…"**_

This next move was inspired by a popular street fighting game she was into, because she drove her fist in a swooping uppercut against Sigurd's chin, using the propulsion to rise high into the air.

" _ **IS FOR ME!"**_

Sigurd's unconscious body arched clean from the defense bench all the way over to the prosecutor side, collapsing onto the floor with a dull thud. Brunhilde landed back on her feet clumsily and panted hard while maintaining her fighting stance. Only when the bailiff handcuffed Sigurd and brought him out of the courtroom could she begin to relax.


	25. Turnabout Wing - End

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 2 – Turnabout Wing**

 **Conclusion**

Dona stared in disbelief at the wounded Brunhilde, dumbfounded by what she had done to protect her. The gangster girl hobbled a bit from sudden dizziness, and Sigmund helped her stay on her feet.

"Are you all right!?" he exclaimed.

"Ugh… That really smart… But I'll be fine… Mr. Nibelung…"

"Come on. Let's get you treated."

Sigmund and another bailiff helped Brunhilde walk to the courthouse's infirmary where a nurse could treat her head injury. Before leaving, she faced Dona and Kriemhilde and gave them a thumbs up, indicating that she would be okay.

After all was said and done, Justine shook her head in disappointment and said, "In all my years presiding over cases, never have I seen such a tragic outcome. This case is testament to how evil can manifest in any form, and how we must see through that visage in order to deliver justice."

"Your Honor?" Dona asked. "Will Brune be charged with assault?"

"No, Ms. DiPrima. As we all witnessed, she did it in self-defense, and to keep you safe from Sigurd's rampage."

"That's a relief…"

"Everything's going to be fine, Dona," Phoenix assured her. "The culprit has been arrested, and the Fafnirs will fall apart before you know it. You don't have to worry about your would-be killer remaining at large anymore."

"Yeah…"

"Well then," Justine said, "would the defendant please take the stand?"

Kriemhilde did so, anticipating that she would get the proper verdict.

"It has been a long and arduous trial for everyone, but most especially for you, Ms. Volsung. On behalf of the Goddess of Law, I extend my heartfelt apologies for involving you in this case when you never should have been."

"It's okay, Your Honor. You were all doing your jobs."

"But I'm happy to say that in conclusion of this tumultuous trial, the court finds the defendant, Kriemhilde Volsung… **NOT GUILTY**."

Everyone in the gallery cheered for Kriemhilde's official acquittal. She gave a bright smile of relief to everyone, and they too were happy for her. Even Sebastian was satisfied with the outcome, despite being the one who indicted in the first place.

To finish it all off, Justine announced, "Court is adjourned!"

The slamming gavel indicated the end of the trial.

* * *

 **November 5, 2027**

 **2:30 PM**

 **District Courthouse – Defendant Lobby No. 3**

"Thank you very much, Mr. Wright and Ms. Cykes," Kriemhilde extended her heartfelt gratitude. "Brune definitely made the right choice in asking your office to help with this case."

"I didn't think it would get so complicated though," Athena frowned. "And to think this was all the brainchild of a 13-year old kid only seems to add insult to injury."

"Yes. I never would have imagined that Mr. Nibelung's son would have done so much harm to others for his own desires. I know none of this will bring Mom back, but I can return to my work as a clothing designer and hopefully return Volsung Apparel from the brink of bankruptcy."

"I bet you'll make it even better than before, Kree!" Brunhilde remarked. She didn't need to spend much time in the infirmary, having to go home with only some bandages on her forehead.

"I think it's because Mom was too afraid to trust anyone. But I'm different. Under my tutelage, Volsung Apparel will be a more open-minded company. I just sometimes worry about falling prey to someone who could take advantage of me to further their own ambitions though."

"Don't worry. After I'm done high school, I'm gonna take fashion design courses and help you out. If anyone tries to pull any funny business, they'll have to answer to me!"

"I-I don't think you need to take it that far…"

"Then we should head back to the office and have a bite to eat. I'm starving!" Athena declared.

"Yeah," Phoenix nodded. "You two take care of yourselves now. Let us know how things turn out with your company, Kree."

"I will, Mr. Wright!"

Phoenix and Athena left the happy sisters to rejoice in their well-earned victory and planning for the future. Near the courthouse entrance, they met up with a man in his mid-20s who had short, slicked brown hair save for two blaringly obvious cow licks standing tall over his wide forehead. He wore a red vest over a white shirt, a blue necktie, and red dress pants. While his attire was simple yet loud, he bore one piece of jewelry; a golden bracelet around his left wrist. His name was Apollo Justice, Phoenix's other junior attorney besides Athena.

"Hey, Apollo! Ready to head back?" Athena called out to him.

"Yeah. That was one heck of a crazy trial though," the young man said, his cow licks drooping as if responding to his dumbstruck mood. "I don't envy you guys at all."

"Hah hah," Phoenix laughed. "Well, it wasn't too bad considering that the prosecution had such a weak case from the beginning. I just didn't think it'd take so much work to get to the truth. I don't even know if it could've been possible without Dona's help."

"That girl… DiPrima, was it?" Apollo asked. "She was something else, wasn't she?"

"She was an odd one, that's for sure. But I can't stop worrying about her. Even though Sigurd's been caught, he was still only someone else's client. She's been locked in someone's sights for almost 10 years. It's a miracle that she's still alive."

"Yeah…" Athena murmured sadly. "I wish I could have found out why she has that disorder. It could have been a clue to figuring out the whole story."

Apollo became surprisingly serious as he said, "You got that right. I was watching her carefully during her entire testimony."

He wrapped his hand around his bracelet. "… And my bracelet reacted."

"You mean she had a nervous habit that you perceived!?" Phoenix wondered.

"Yeah, no mistaking it. But I was too far away to get a good look at what it was. If I was able to point it out, then maybe we could have drawn out more information from her."

"So there really is something else that she didn't tell us," Athena sounded sullen as she said this. "Mmmgh, my head's spinning with all of the possibilities! I'm tempted to just pull her aside and interrogate her!"

"I understand your enthusiasm, Athena," Phoenix muttered. "But if she doesn't want it to be our business, then we should respect that. Besides, maybe she doesn't want to get us involved lest we become targets ourselves. Perhaps that's why she was determined to dodge the issue during the cross-examination."

"You could be right… I still can't help but worry about her though!"

"Say, Mr. Wright," Apollo grinned. "Dona's in the defense attorney class at Themis, right? Maybe you should hire her after she passes her bar exam in the future."

"Hire her?" the senior attorney pondered.

"Then we'd be able to keep a close eye on her and gradually poke her for the details under the guise of being friendly co-workers."

"Well… That doesn't sound like a bad idea. But who knows how long that'll be. It'll be four years until she graduates from Themis, and then she has to go to university and pass the bar. No one knows what'll happen to her – or even us – down the line."

"Then maybe there's another way for her to work with us. Don't they have apprenticeships for the senior students at Themis?" Apollo asked.

"They do, but I haven't been accepting apprentices due to our busy schedule…" Phoenix grumbled. "Look, we should let Dona finish her studies first. We can worry about that when the time comes."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm getting carried away because my bracelet reacted…"

" _C'est la vie_ , huh?" Athena pouted. "All right then. Let's go home and celebrate with a big bowl of Eldoon's Noodles!"

The trio of attorneys left the courtroom for the day, satisfied with their victory. The dark age of the law felt like a passing flicker of a thought to them, yet it would come to haunt them in an incredibly cruel fashion a month and a half later. As Phoenix surmised, it threatened to tear the Wright Anything Agency apart by putting their bonds of trust to the ultimate test. But that, as they say, was an entirely different story.

* * *

At the same time, Dona had split from everyone else to get a soda from the vending machine before going home. The trial had worked up quite a thirst in her, and she needed to quench it. While guzzling down her beverage, Sebastian found her and asked, "Heading home already, I see?"

"Why, is there anything else for me to do here?"

"Not really. By the way, the court proceedings have been recorded and will be analyzed by your professors at Themis."

"What for?"

"Due to the school's struggling reputation, the head honchos are grasping at straws looking for any way to rebuild it's good standing."

"I see. In other words, this case has become a golden goose for them. But they better be careful. First it was one professor killing another. Now it's one student trying to kill another as a hit job. At this rate, Themis Academy might become known as the 'Academy of Death' instead."

"I-I don't think it'd go _that_ far…" the prosecutor scratched his head nervously.

"Well, it's not my problem," Dona muttered. "It'll be business as usual for me."

"What, they aren't giving you some time off? That's rather cold of them."

"On the contrary. I'd actually feel restless if I just sat around at home."

"If that's how you feel, then I won't stop you. Just tell me one thing before you go."

"What is it?"

"Why do you seek the path of the defense attorney?"

Dona remained expressionless as she closed her eyes. The prosecutor had no idea if she was thinking of something or trying to hold her words back. Then she quietly turned away from him and murmured a strange phrase:

"OD-10."

She didn't look back to see what Sebastian's reaction was while walking out of the district courthouse.

* * *

 **November 6, 2027**

 **1:15 PM**

 **Volsung Residence**

Dona went over to Brunhilde's house to spend the afternoon with her. She was especially worried about the injury she sustained from her skirmish with Sigurd and wanted to see if she was okay. Brunhilde had a thick bandage over the wound, but she assured that everything would be fine. They went upstairs to the third-floor atelier where Kriemhilde was working on a dress.

"Ah, perfect! Dona, can you do me a favor?" Kriemhilde asked. "You look to be about the right size. Can you wear this outfit while I make a few adjustments? I need to get the dimensions just perfect for my client."

"I don't mind."

Dona changed into the strip of cloth and allowed Kriemhilde to do her work. Brunhilde watched her sister and took some notes for future study, but that was when her cell phone rang. She answered with, "Hello, Brune speaking… Hm?"

Her expression became peculiar, and she asked, "Who is this? … Wha-!? _Gunther_!?"

Dona and Kriemhilde watched her as she rushed over to the window to have her surprise conversation in private. Brunhilde exclaimed in as quiet a voice as possible, "Why are you calling me!?"

" _H-Hey there… The detention center isn't giving me a lot of time, so I'll make this quick. I wanted to apologize for tricking you on the double date. I wanted to earlier, but I couldn't get the chance to because of all the ruckus surrounding this case. I know you're mad at me, and I know I totally deserve it."_

"Well… Of course I'm mad! But…"

" _But what?"_

"I'm just not used to hearing you like this. I never thought you'd actually go out of your way to apologize to anyone."

" _Yeah, I know. I'm an insensitive dumbass, and I badly need to change that. Anyway, I just want to be sure, but do you have the ornament that you asked me to hold on to that day?"_

"No. The police have it as evidence."

" _That sucks,"_ Gunther sounded disappointed. _"I wanted to give it back to you so that you could move on from this and find some other guy to go out with."_

"Another guy?" Brunhilde wondered.

" _Yeah. I'm sure there are plenty of guys out there who'll make you happy. I just wanted to say sorry and let you move on from this. I've gotta get my act together and figure out what to do from here after I finish serving my time."_

"Oh, what did they give you?"

" _Well because I turned myself in and am cooperating with the police on taking down the other Fafnirs, my sentence has been commuted to one year in prison, another year of house arrest, and police monitoring for at least two years after I'm released."_

"That doesn't sound so bad."

" _Yeah. Well, I better get back to my cell-"_

"Wait, Gunther!"

" _Yeah?"_

"T-There's something I want to ask you."

" _What is it?"_

"Well… After you get out of prison… Do you think… you could… maybe go… with me again…?"

" _What are you talking about?"_

Dona and Kriemhilde watched Brunhilde's cheeks flush red as she explained, "You know what I mean! I-I thought… I could give you another chance…"

" _Why? You always called me a violent brute."_

"But that's obviously not what you are! That was a rumor spread by Sigurd, wasn't it!?"

" _Yeah, but that was to hide the identity of the real boss."_

"Then there's nothing for me to worry about! But if I find out that you've been causing trouble for others while in prison, I'm gonna retract that offer and _really_ have nothing further to do with you, understand!?"

" _Hold on a minute! You make it sound like I said yes!"_

"Well I didn't hear a no!"

" _Okay, uh… This is getting kind of weird… Tell you what, I'll give it lots of thought while here, okay?"_

"Of course! I'll stop by once in a while to see how you're doing. If you still feel hesitant about it, then I'll respect that."

" _Sure. Then I should go. My time's up."_

"Right. See you later, Gunther."

Brunhilde hung up and told the others what happened during the conversation.

"You asked Gunther out!?" Kriemhilde exclaimed. "Are you serious, Brune!?"

"I knew you would object, but I think he's serious about changing himself. If he isn't, then I'm going to make sure he's not being half-assed about it while in prison. As long as I'm around, he won't be causing trouble for either of us."

"Well… Okay. It's what you want to do, but you need to take responsibility for it, you hear?"

"Of course I will!"

Dona listened intently to the sisters, unable to offer anything to their conversation. Listening to Gunther's name made her mind wander over to Sigurd. Even though the case was closed and everyone responsible would be serving time, she still felt like there were some unresolved questions that she needed answered.

* * *

 **November 8, 2027**

 **3:30 PM**

 **Juvenile Detention Center**

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Dona?"

"I think it is, Bertie."

"In my opinion, you don't need to have any further contact with that… _creature_."

"Don't worry. It'll just be this one time. After I ask him what I want, I plan on never seeing him again."

"It had better be this once only. The powers that be know how I cannot tolerate your shenanigans for long."

Dona had asked Adelbert to drive her to the city's juvenile detention center where Sigurd would serve his sentence until he turned 18. Dona sat in front of the interrogation window while Adelbert stood several feet behind her. A few minutes later, an officer brought Sigurd, now wearing prison-issued clothing, and he sat down on the opposite side of the window. He had some bandages on his face thanks to the beating that Brunhilde gave him a few days ago, and one of his eyes was almost swollen shut.

"I didn't think you'd come to see me," Sigurd flatly said to Dona.

"Don't get your hopes up. I don't plan on making a habit of it."

"Heh. So you know what my sentence is, don't you?"

"The original sentence was 20 years for the murder, another 10 for attempted murder, plus 4 for perjury, and 2 more years for trying to assault me. Not to mention that the police are investigating your activities as Balmung, so there could be more charges. But since you're turning on your subordinates and telling the police everything, you're cutting off at least the years for perjury and assault."

"Yeah. I'm pretty much spending the rest of my life behind bars."

"As you should."

"Cold as ever, I see. So why are you paying a visit to see a madman like myself?"

"I just have a few questions for you," Dona said.

"What are they?"

"Are you the leader of the Fafnir Crusaders, Balmung?"

Sigurd covered his eyes with his bangs for a moment. Then he grinned with a wicked smile and remarked, "Yes, I am."

"So you accepted a hit job from someone and tried to take my life at least twice?"

"Yes, I did."

"Was the construction site 'accident' all planned by you? Did you actually bait me out to that place so the girder would fall on me?"

"It would have worked wonders had that brute of a woman not come and rescued you."

"Did you have Gunther disguise himself as you for the double date in order to establish your alibi?"

"That loser would do anything I said for money. I would sooner die than be seen in public with that burly harpy, so I had him go in my place."

"Did you kill Grimhilde Volsung with the sentry gun on November 3?"

"I'd do it again if I had the chance. That textbook 'wicked stepmother' thought she could get into Father's pockets by marrying one of her idiot daughters to me. The worst part of it is that Father agreed to it like the lonely fool that he is. Dealing with a forced marriage fueled by obvious financial desires would have compromised my ability to expand my influence across this city."

"Did you try to kill me with the same weapon on November 4?"

This time, Sigurd sighed with resignation. "You're one lucky girl, Dona. That singed hair is proof of how close I was to finishing what I started. I was starting to think that I should be marrying you instead so I could get a bit of that good fortune."

"One last thing." Dona stared hard at him, ignoring his attempt at flattery. It would be the last time she would ever get to see Sigurd, and she needed to ask this last question while burning the memory of her classmate gone twisted in her eyes.

"What is it?" he asked with an empty grin.

"… Who is this client that's ordering my death?"

The gangster boy brushed his hair aside. "I actually don't know."

"Then how did you interact with him or her?"

"Through email. Of course I've thoroughly destroyed any and all messages I received from them, so the cops won't be finding anything. I tried tracking them myself, but it just led to a dummy corporation."

"I see," Dona whispered, then thought, _So my hunch was right._

"I shouldn't be the one saying this, but you better be careful. From those messages, I understood that this person hated you with every fiber of their being."

"I honestly don't remember having done anything to upset anyone."

"You don't have to. Just like me, there are some scary people in this world. Sometimes, humans don't need a reason to kill each other."

"You're right."

She stood up and turned away from the interrogation window. Sigurd suddenly said, "You're not going to ask why I became a gangster, or why I want to control this city from the shadows?"

"No. That's for you and Sigmund to deal with. I've already asked what I wanted of you. From this point onward, we are nothing but complete strangers."

"How cruel. But that cool attitude of yours won't last long when you have someone seeking your life like they're playing the Grim Reaper. Are you not going to flee this city in fear of your safety?"

Dona stopped in mid-step and murmured darkly, "Mr. Wright and Ms. Cykes witnessed it for themselves. I don't know what 'real fear' is."

Sigurd wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Come on, Bertie. We're leaving," Dona told the butler.

"About time. This tense atmosphere is not good for my blood circulation," Adelbert muttered.

And with that, the two students parted ways forever. One would suffer the consequences of his villainous actions, while the other would continue to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer. Even if there was some kind of assassin lying in wait for her, she would not falter. In fact, her mind literally couldn't process the very anxiety that was required for one's conviction to waver in the first place. She would just look ahead towards the ideal adult that she wanted to become:

A guardian of the courtroom like Phoenix, Athena, Sebastian, and Justine.

* * *

 _ **The present day…**_

 **October 23, 2031**

 **5:30 PM**

 **Wright Anything Agency**

"And that's about it," Dona finished explaining her to story to Trucy. "Hard to believe it's been four years since that trial."

"Woo~ow…!" the magician was at a loss for words. "Daddy never told me anything about this! Boy, I'm so glad I got to hear it from you instead! Now I see why Daddy was so insistent on transferring your apprenticeship to our agency!"

Suddenly, a young man's voice chirped, "You bet!"

"Wah!" Trucy and Dona were startled and they turned their heads around to find Athena and Apollo standing near the door.

"Polly! Don't scare me like that!" Trucy yelled angrily. "When did you two get in anyway!? I didn't hear the door at all!"

"Probably because you were so engrossed in Dona's story," the man raised an eyebrow, then said to Dona, "This is our first time meeting, right? Name's Apollo Justice. Mr. Wright told me about you."

They shook hands, then she said, "I remember seeing you from the Constance Courte trial a while back. My sister and I were in the gallery watching it all unfold."

"That's good. So we're not starting off as total strangers. Did Trucy give you any trouble while greeting you to our office?"

"Other than stealing my student card and taping it to the back of a playing card, she was very accommodating."

"Figures as much…"

Athena smiled and asked Trucy, "Hey, did you show her your Magic Panties trick yet!?"

"No, I wanted to save it for later, but I suppose one quick preview wouldn't hurt," the magician said, then fetched a pair of garish blue and pink bloomers from somewhere in her mantle. "One, two, three, boom!"

She made a Blue Badger doll appear from seemingly out of nowhere. Then with a deft flick of her wrists, the bizarre underwear vanished.

"Interesting," Dona said flatly.

"If you ever have any excess evidence that you need to lighten your hands from, my Magic Panties will make them disappear!" Trucy said.

"Ooh, show her Mr. Hat next!" Athena urged.

"Okay! Ann~nnd-!"

" _ **HOLD IT!"**_

The group were alarmed by this bellowing call, and they looked at the door to find Phoenix staring at them with a displeased expression.

"Whoa, Daddy!"

"When are you guys going to stop goofing off and do some real work?" the senior lawyer demanded. "Besides, aren't you going to be late for your show, Trucy?"

"Don't worry about that! Dona was just telling me all about when the two of you first met! I couldn't resist listening to her story!"

"Well I think you better get going. Our clientele may be growing steadily, but your shows are our biggest source of a steady income."

"I know that. Then I'll see you later, Dona! Have fun with everyone!"

Trucy left the office to go perform at her show. Phoenix let out an exasperated sigh and said to the student, "Sorry about that. She's a bright and energetic girl, but sometimes that causes some trouble for us."

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Wright," Dona replied. "In any case, I should start familiarizing myself with this office's surroundings."

"Speaking of which…" Phoenix gave Apollo and Athena a dissatisfied expression. "Once again, this place is a total mess. Since there's plenty of downtime, it's time we got on our hands and knees and made this place sparkle."

"Aw man! Cleaning duty sucks!" Athena groaned.

Apollo added, "We haven't been able to do any cleaning because we've been so busy investigating cases for our clients!"

"Well we're not busy _now_ ," Phoenix objected. "One of us especially needs to tackle the toilet."

"Allow me, Mr. Wright," Dona offered.

"N-No, I couldn't have you on toilet duty during your first day here," he grinned sheepishly.

"No, I insist. If it will help me get to know this place a little better, then I'll gladly assist in any janitorial duties. Besides, I don't think I would be able to concentrate on my homework when thrust into the middle of such a… um, disaster zone. I am quite the neat freak, after all."

"Hah hah, you don't need to mince words. If you wanna call it a pig sty, go ahead."

"Hmm… I'm not quite fond of such bold vernacular… In any case, just show me where the cleaning products are."

"Alright then. They're over here."

* * *

" _And thus, this was how I began my apprenticeship at the Wright Anything Agency. Maybe it wasn't off to the greatest of starts, but Mr. Justice would eventually tell me about his own harrowing beginnings with the office as well. In fact, everyone would regale me with stories about their previous trials and experiences. I didn't understand why they were so eager to talk with me about them when I could just as easily pulled up their files and read them myself._

" _But over time, I soon began to realize why they were so quick to open up with me. It wasn't about bragging or teaching me anything useful. All they wanted to do was to make me feel welcome. Like I said to Trucy when I first entered that office, I felt like I was intruding in such a lively atmosphere. Sometimes I still feel like I do. After all, I'm just a complete amateur compared to them. But you know what they said after hearing about this tale and the trial I had to defend in recently? They said that I was already like a member of the agency._

"… _Were they implying that I attract trouble like they do?"_

 **Turnabout Wing - END**


	26. The Festive Turnabout - 1

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 3 – The Festive Turnabout**

 **Beginning: Part 1**

" _It took me the last couple of days to become accustomed to the Wright Anything Agency's layout. They had so much paperwork that needed filing that they actually begged me to stop sorting it for them and to go home for the day. I couldn't help it though. The snippets that caught my eye were always so fascinating. I actually used some of their cases as examples in my assignments._

" _In any case, it had barely been a week since I started apprenticing here. It was an unorthodox office, to be sure, but it wasn't famous across town for nothing. Mr. Wright and the others were often busy with their work, and I sometimes wished I could pitch in somehow. However, Bertie had explicitly told me that my studies came first and foremost, and he obviously told Mr. Wright about that as well. He limited the work I did here to sorting out papers and writing notes for them. Luckily, they occasionally sat down with me and helped me with anything I didn't understand. I might've known a lot about law, but not everything yet._

" _I expected that was how things would go for the remainder of the year. But, me oh my, if there was one thing I'd come to learn about this office, it was that they all had bad luck with bumping into cases unexpectedly. And, as this case will testify to, that bad karma had apparently rubbed off onto me as well…"_

* * *

 **October 25, 2031**

 **5:15 PM**

 **Wright Anything Agency**

"I'm Apollo Justice, and I'M FINE! Okay, you try it, Athena."

"I'm Athena Cykes, and I'M FINE!"

"You feeling better?"

"Yeah! Come tomorrow morning, I'm gonna knock everyone's socks off in the courtroom!"

"You're getting better at handling trials by yourself, but there's nothing to have butterflies about this time. I'm going to be your co-counsel."

"I know that! You better watch my back though. There's no doubt that Simon will try to play his mind games on any of us."

Athena and Apollo were doing some kind of shouting exercises that Dona found to be both extremely odd and annoying. They told her that it was their form of boosting morale, but she couldn't comprehend how in the world anyone could feel better by exhausting their lungs like that. Didn't the neighbors ever make noise complaints against them? Dona did her best to ignore the duo's overly audible pep session and concentrated on her legal history work. She finished the last of it rather quickly and went over to the sink to clean some dishes.

The door swung open, and Trucy entered with her usual pleasant smile as she called out, "I'm back!"

"Hey, Trucy! How was the show?" Athena asked.

"Five stars, as always! I always get a huge turnout at the Borscht Bowl."

"It's no wonder. That's where the famous heiress to the Gramarye legacy had her debut at just eight years old!"

"He he. But tomorrow's gonna be the first show for _Trucy Wright's Magical Halloween Heist_ at the Penrose Theater. I'm so nervous, I can hardly get a wink of sleep!"

"You don't have anything to worry about," Apollo assured her. "You're always meticulous about making sure everything goes off without a hitch."

"Yeah, but I always fret about another incident like what happened a few years ago…"

"Don't worry. That wasn't your fault whatsoever."

"I know, but I can't help it. I have a lot on my shoulders, being the only person who can carry on my granddaddy's legacy."

Apollo became determined and clenched his fists as he yelled, "You're Trucy Wright, and you're gonna be FINE!"

"Apollo!"

"See? Feeling better?"

"Yeah. I'm Trucy Wright, and I'm gonna be fine!" she gave herself the peace sign, indicating that her partner's pep talk worked. She noticed Dona at the sink and approached her, asking, "You wanna try it? If you're nervous about some upcoming test, just let it all out."

"Quite frankly, I'm not fond of raising my voice like that."

"Hey, it's okay. You don't need to worry about acting professional all the time," Trucy assured her.

"It's not just about professionalism. I don't think I can ever recall yelling or shouting in my whole life. Just the thought of it makes me feel hesitant for some reason."

"Well, I guess you're not the type to have Chords of Steel like Apollo, huh? But if you ever want to cut loose, you're more than welcome to do it here."

"I'll keep that in mind," Dona murmured and finished the last of the dishes before sitting down to do some reading in the back corner so she wouldn't disrupt the others.

Athena put her hands on her hips and whispered to Apollo and Trucy, "Say, don't you think she's being a little _too_ withdrawn? I know she's the quiet type, but all she ever does is clean, study and read when she's here. She hardly ever seems to talk to us."

"Cut her some slack," Apollo said. "She's got a lot on her plate, what with doing her apprenticeship here while making sure to keep up with her studies. Mr. Wright told me that she has a weak constitution, so she can't be as active as others in her class."

"I guess. I just wish she'd be a little friendlier with us. After all, if she's going to be an attorney like us, then she needs to know how to make others feel comfortable, especially her clients. I suppose the problem is that she doesn't know how to relax."

"Hmm… Say, I've got an idea!" Trucy beamed and huddled in with the others. "You know how I was invited to next week's Halloween party at Global Studios? I invited you two and Daddy, but he turned it down because he was going to the Borscht Bowl then, and I didn't know what to do with the last invite. How about we bring Dona with us as a group then?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Apollo grinned. "But I get the feeling that if we ask her now, she'll most likely turn us down."

"Then I'll ask her all last-minute like and give her no choice but to come. I have the costumes all ready for us, so don't worry about that!"

"Then it's a plan!" Athena said. "Until next week, none of us should say a word to her! That goes double for you, Apollo!"

"What're you talking about?" he grunted, and his cow-licked hair drooped in response to his annoyance. "You should be worrying more about yourself, thank you very much!"

Meanwhile, Dona couldn't help but peer her eyes upward at the trio as they whispered amongst themselves.

 _What in the world are they doing? Shouldn't they be looking for cases or attending the gallery in a court trial? I'm having a hard time fathoming how the law offices of such a famous attorney like Mr. Wright allows for such unprofessional behavior._

* * *

 **October 26, 2031**

 **8:00 PM**

 **DiPrima Residence**

The following evening, Dona and Diva returned from their apprenticing positions at about the same time. Dona asked her sister, "How is your apprenticeship coming along? I heard that you needed to switch to a different prosecutor after Mr. Payne's heart attack."

"Yeah, I was originally working under him, but the doctors say that his profession isn't doing any good for his heart and that he should retire now rather than in spring."

"Let me guess; you're apprenticing under Prosecutor Debeste now?"

Diva shuddered and exclaimed, "That joke was in poor taste, Sis. But no, I'm not."

"Then who is your new mentor?"

"My professor is still arranging it, but from what I heard, it's gonna be someone who graduated from Themis."

"Interesting. So they would understand the curriculum better than anyone else."

"Yep, so I have nothing to worry about. Not like I was worried about anything in the first place! Oh ho ho ho!"

They entered through the front door, and Adelbert stood there with a strange expression on his face. It looked to be either mirth, coyness, or perhaps both. The twins were caught off guard by his unusual greeting, and Diva asked, "What's with that silly grin on your face, Bertie? You're giving me the heebie-jeebies!"

"I've been eagerly awaiting your return, girls. I have someone I would like to introduce to you two," Adelbert grinned, something which the twins had not seen the stoic ex-MI6 agent do in ages. "Stay right where you are. I will be back shortly."

Diva and Dona glanced at each other with perplexed expressions as he went into the kitchen. They heard him speak to someone briefly, then two pairs of footsteps turned the corner. Adelbert returned with a familiar face, which made Diva's eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets.

" _ **Ms. Eve!?"**_

Indeed, it was Nye Eve who accompanied Adelbert into the hallway. Instead of a nurse's outfit though, she now wore a simple blue t-shirt with the logo _Happy Housekeepers_ emblazoned on the upper left, brown slacks and white socks.

"Hi again!" Nye waved at them with a jovial smile.

"Ms. Eve! What are you doing here!?" Dona wondered.

"Well, after Forst's case was wrapped up, I left my job at the nursing agency and applied as a housekeeper. Mr. Krandes must have found out about my job change because he was insistent on hiring me as a full-time cleaner through the agency."

"I'm not getting any younger, girls," the butler admitted. "Sometimes I find it difficult to perform basic duties anymore. Then I recalled how Nye's case was solved thanks to her professionalism as a cleaner, so I tracked down her place of employment. The rest is quite obvious, as you can see."

"So she's going to be working for us from now on?" Diva asked.

"Indeed. Of course, she will only be performing duties related to cleaning. I will still be handling cooking, house maintenance, and management of the DiPrima estate until you two come of age."

"I see…" Dona murmured. She certainly wasn't expecting _this_ to happen.

"I'm so happy to be working for you guys!" Nye chirped. "If there's anything that needs cleaning, don't hesitate to let me know! Oh, and I'll be responsible for driving you to the hospital for your annual appointments, Dona."

"Oh, speaking of which, I'm due to see Dr. Hyder again this year, aren't I?"

"Worry not," Adelbert bowed. "I have already made an appointment for you. I've also told Nye everything about your poor health condition and to keep an eye on you. Since she is trained as a nurse, she'll have a much better time giving you care should an acute emergency come up like what happened at the end of the trial."

"I'm sorry about that, Bertie. Never in a million years would I have been expected to lead the defense when I haven't passed the bar…"

"The same goes for me as the prosecution too!" Diva proudly put her hands on her hips.

"It's quite all right, girls. I'm sure no one ever expected that," Adelbert assured. "I bet it will go down in the annals of legal history though. '17-Year Old Twin Students Duke It Out In Court' is what everyone will be saying 10 or 20 years from now."

"Oh come on, Bertie! You gotta put more oomph into your headlines!" Diva barked. "I can see it now! 'Grand Debut! DiPrima Twins Defend Client From False Charges!'"

"Hah hah! You always were the more imaginative one, young lady."

Dona sighed. She wanted to take her mind off that frantic case, but it felt like everything and everyone was determined to not let her forget. Nye noticed her fatigue and asked, "Are you okay? You look pretty tired. Have you eaten a good supper?"

"I have, but maybe a snack before bed would be nice. I've got a test coming up tomorrow, and I don't have much time to study."

"Leave it to me!" Nye exclaimed and went to the kitchen while humming a pleasant tune.

"Man, she's one eager beaver," Diva raised an eyebrow. "It's fine to have some _joie de vivre_ , but I hope she doesn't overdo it with the peppiness."

"She's just happy to see you both again," Adelbert said.

"If you'll excuse me…" Dona murmured and quietly went upstairs while Diva went to the kitchen to chat with Nye.

* * *

 **October 27, 2031**

 **12:15 PM**

 **Themis Legal Academy – Rooftop**

Diva and Dona met up with each other at their usual place on Themis' rooftop tables to eat lunch. Diva stretched her arms up high and let out a visible groan as she exclaimed, "Man, that test was a doozy!"

"Did you do all right on it?" Dona asked.

"Oh ho ho ho! Of course I did! A lot of my classmates think that I'm a complete ditz just because I'm pretty, but being at the top of the class will show them! Do your classmates bicker like that about you?"

"Not that I've noticed."

"It must be those big dorky glasses. I keep telling you that you should consider getting lasik surgery!"

"And I keep telling you that that's not necessary."

"Why not? Don't you want to be known as a madame of the courtroom?"

"Isn't that your forte? All I care about is being professional."

"Oh ho ho ho! Normally I'm not worried about competition, but if you got that procedure done, I might actually feel a bit of pressure for a change!"

Dona raised an eyebrow. "How in the world is being your identical twin tantamount to giving you pressure? And besides, how are we having such a stupid conversation to begin with?"

Diva huffed and retorted, "It is not stupid! This is your future we're talking about here!"

"Both of us should just worry about the here and now. The future can take care of itself."

"You always say that."

Both of them continued eating for a few minutes, then Dona asked, "By the way, have you been seeing Caleb in classes lately?"

"No…" Diva sighed sullenly. "Where the devil is he? If he doesn't come back soon, everything he's worked so hard for will all be for naught!"

Dona thought back to when they last saw their childhood friend, then said, "We saw him last before he went on that vacation with his brothers back in the summer. I don't even know if he's returned from that."

"He had the gall to completely miss our birthday too! Honestly! What kind of guy ditches his friends' birthdays and runs off without saying a word!?"

Then Diva gasped as she had an 'ah ha' moment and barked, "What if he's found another woman and is too ashamed to tell us about it!?"

"You know he's way too straightforward to pull off such a dastardly move," Dona muttered. "If anything, he'd actually tell the girl off."

"Maybe. It's just that I keep going to his house all the time and asking where he is, but no one will tell me anything. I'm getting really frustrated with this. He should at least give us a call and tell us what's going on so we don't have to worry about him!"

Dona rested her chin upon her hands and thought of something that she didn't want to voice with her lamenting sister.

 _Maybe… something bad has happened to him…_

* * *

 **October 27, 2031**

 **3:15 PM**

 **Wright Anything Agency**

Dona arrived at the agency and was greeted with the sight of a totally exhausted Apollo and Athena as they reclined on the couch and watched some programs on television.

"Good afternoon," she said to them. "Did the trial go okay?"

"Somehow we managed to win it, but only by the skin of our teeth," Athena grunted.

"It took the last two days to deliberate, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Apollo sighed. "Today's trial went on for much longer than I thought. I don't think I've had anything to eat since this morning."

"Me too…" Athena moaned. "But I'm too exhausted to get up…"

Dona nodded and said, "Then I'll prepare something quick for us."

She went to the office's small kitchen and made some sandwiches for them. That was when Phoenix entered with a bunch of documents in his hands, and he said to the others, "Busy day, huh?"

"Tell me about it," Apollo muttered.

"If my hands weren't tied with school, I could have provided some assistance," Dona said.

"Oh, no, no, don't worry about us! We've got everything covered here. You just concentrate on your studies. By the way, didn't you have a big test today?"

"Everything went smoothly. It was helpful that I learned the answers to some of those questions from you guys."

"Good. Keep up that pace and you'll become a great lawyer in no time."

"Oh, by the way, Dona," Phoenix said to her. "I got a letter for the agency today, but it's addressed to you."

"Really?" She took a white envelope from him and read the front. It only said 'Dona' and wasn't postmarked at all. She opened it up and took out a plain white card to read its contents.

"This is…"

"What's the matter?" Athena asked.

"It's from Caleb…"

"Caleb? Who's that?"

"Don't you remember?" Phoenix replied. "Caleb Murphy was Dona's partner in that double date they had a few years ago. You know, the one that helped solve the Grimhilde Volsung murder case?"

"Oh yeah, him! But I don't remember seeing him take the stand."

"What seems to be the matter, Dona?" Phoenix asked her. "You look rather stunned."

"Well… It's just that Diva and I haven't seen him since the summer, and she said that he hasn't been coming to classes."

"Really? You don't think he's just playing hooky?"

"He's not like that. He might get angry easily, but he takes his work very seriously. We've also been asking his family members, but no one will tell us anything about his whereabouts. I was starting to think that something very bad had happened to him… Like he was dead."

The mood suddenly became somber. Apollo asked, "You thought he was dead?"

"I did… Until I read this."

Dona read the card's contents aloud for them, which simply said, "Hey, Dona. How's school been going? I heard about how you became Phoenix Wright's apprentice and the case that led up to it. I wanted to congratulate you on winning that trial. I'm really sorry for not being around for yours and Diva's birthday. Something's come up and I won't be able to come back for a while. My professors know about my absence, so don't worry about that. Also, don't bother with asking my family about where I am. I haven't told them my whereabouts whatsoever. All I want you both to do is to focus on becoming great attorneys, and to not be worried about me. I'm sorry, and take care of yourself, Dona. – Caleb"

"You think it's really him who wrote the letter?" Phoenix asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.

"I think so," Dona nodded. "I'd recognize that bold, sloppy handwriting anywhere."

"I see. If you're convinced, then we're convinced."

Athena asked, "What do you think happened to him to make him so evasive even to his own family?"

"I don't know," Dona frowned. "This is the first time I've ever seen him be so secretive and vague. Usually he's so brutally honest that he needs to send apology cards afterwards. I'm glad that he's alive, but I still can't help but wonder where he is and what happened to him."

She knew that none of her mentors could provide her with a straight answer, so all she could say was, "For now, I should just do what he says and focus on my studies."

"That's a good idea," Phoenix agreed. "Maybe you'll find out what's going on sometime in the future."

"Then for now, let me go back to making our food."

Dona returned to the kitchen and finished making the sandwiches for them to eat. As soon as she sat down at the table to do some homework however, her cell phone rang and she answered it. Before she could say anything, Diva's voice blurted out, _"Hey, Sis! You're not gonna believe this!"_

"What's the matter?"

" _One of the prosecutors just delivered a letter to me from Caleb!"_

"So you got one too?"

" _What? Did you get a letter from him as well?"_

"I did. It was mailed to Mr. Wright's office though."

" _Geez, what was he thinking? He knows where we live! He could've just sent them there!"_

Dona couldn't dismiss that idea, and she replied, "Maybe he had a reason for not mailing them to the mansion."

" _Like what? He didn't want someone other than us to see them?"_

"Hmm…"

" _What's wrong, Sis? Are you getting all pessimistic and thinking of worst case scenarios again?"_

"I'm not sure. It's just that in my letter, he said that not even his family knows where he is."

" _He said that in mine too."_

"Why would he not tell them where he is? What could've happened to him to make him so evasive?"

" _Well… Um…"_ Diva couldn't help but admit that she was at a loss about answering those questions too. " _What should we do? If he didn't tell Mr. Murphy and the others about where he was, does that mean he's purposely trying to stay away from them? Should we show them these letters? Would that lead them to try to find Caleb when he doesn't want them to find him?"_

These were some incredibly difficult questions for Dona to answer. She completely agreed with Diva's worries about their best friend potentially trying to stay away from his family. Neither of them could figure out why he was doing this, but they knew fully well that it was totally out of character for him. For him to go through such effort to disappear for over five months before contacting his friends without alerting his family meant that something serious was going on.

"Maybe…" Dona began while thinking of the right words to say. "We should talk with Bertie about it when we get home."

" _What would he do about it?"_ Diva asked.

"Let's show him the letters and be frank about our concerns. If we tried to hide these from him, either he or Nye will find them eventually. If Caleb is really trying to hide from Mr. Murphy, we wouldn't want Bertie to talk to him about these when we don't want him to."

" _Yeah, you're right. Bertie's really good at finding stuff we hide from him. And it's to also possibly protect Caleb from whatever he's running from. I just can't help but wonder what he's actually trying to stay away from though…"_

Dona paused, trying to think of the answer to that dilemma. She couldn't be certain of anything, but since Caleb never told the Murphys where he was, there were two things she could think of. One, that he was staying in hiding for their protection. Or two, that he was actually hiding from them. Deep down, she prayed that the first scenario was the correct one.

During the phone conversation, Athena slightly turned her gaze toward Dona and became concerned. Her sensitive hearing had picked up the entire conversation, including what Diva was saying. She could sense the immense amount of worry in Dona's voice, even though the student was masking it very well with her untroubled mannerisms.

 _I wish there was something we could do to help… But if she doesn't want us to interfere, then I should do the right thing and not say anything until she brings it up with us._


	27. The Festive Turnabout - 2

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 3 – The Festive Turnabout**

 **Beginning: Part 2**

 **October 27, 2031**

 **8:00 PM**

 **DiPrima Residence**

After the twins finished up work for the day at their apprenticing positions, they returned home at the same time and quickly showed each other the letters they received. The contents turned out to be almost identical except for the names and some details. They nodded and entered the house together, where they expected that Adelbert would be at the front door to greet them.

"Good evening, girls," the older man bowed.

"Bertie? We need to talk to you for a minute," Dona said to him with a serious tone.

"Oh? Is there something troubling you two?"

"You can say that again!" Diva blurted. They went to the living room and showed him the letters while explaining their concerns about Caleb's disappearance.

"Interesting," Adelbert murmured curiously. "So you both think that, for whatever reason, he's hiding on purpose."

"Yes," Dona replied. "I don't know if he's gone missing to protect his family, or if he's on the run from them. Diva and I don't know what to do about asking Mr. Murphy about this."

"So you came to me for advice. Well, it is most curious that he says he 'didn't tell his family his whereabouts', although the reasons for such behavior is most mystifying to me as well."

"So what should we do?" Diva asked. "We're worried sick about Caleb, but we also don't want to blow his cover if he's really in danger!"

"If you were to ask for my honest opinion, I believe that you both should continue as you are and to not discuss this with Montgomery nor the rest of the Murphy family."

"I thought you were gonna say that… Oh, this is driving me crazy…"

"Hold on now, young lady. Let us think of it this way. If something dangerous happened to Caleb during the summer, would it not be reasonable to think that his disappearance is his way of protecting his friends from whatever danger is pursuing him?"

"Protecting… _us_ …?" the twins murmured simultaneously.

"It's true that we don't know his status with his family. However, it's obvious that he still cares for both of you enough to send some form of contact. It tells me that he must be worried for his childhood friends at the very least, but cannot get close to you both for whatever reason."

The sisters glanced at each other and thought about Adelbert's advice carefully. Eventually, Dona nodded and said, "I understand, Bertie. I won't ask Mr. Murphy or the rest of his family about Caleb anymore."

"I guess I'll do the same too," Diva replied with a sullen voice. It was clear that she didn't want to do that, but it was difficult to refute the idea of their best friend being in some form of danger.

"Very good," the butler said. "I know this must be difficult, but please try to understand his feelings as well. Now then, perhaps you two should be getting to bed soon. Nye has already prepared some snacks and left them in your rooms."

The twins went upstairs for the night, while Adelbert remained sitting in the living room and watched them leave with a pensive glare. He didn't want to tell them what had happened with him earlier in the day.

* * *

 _ **Earlier that day…**_

 **October 27, 2031**

 **10:00 AM**

 **DiPrima Residence**

Adelbert was busy writing some notes for himself in the kitchen when the phone rang. He picked up the receiver and said, "DiPrima residence, Adelbert speaking."

" _Yo, Old Man Bert."_

"Hm…?"

" _What, you don't recognize me?"_

"That voice… No one calls me by that name but you, Caleb."

" _Glad you caught on. Listen, I got a big favor to ask of you."_

"Aren't you the bold one, disappearing for almost half a year only to come back demanding for favors."

" _Look, I'm sorry for pulling a vanishing act on all of you. It's just that things have gotten a little 'complicated' for me."_

"Define what 'complicated' means, young man."

" _Sorry, but I'm not obligated to say."_

"Then what makes you think I'll oblige to any request you ask of me?" the butler asked boldly.

" _This ain't for you, Old Man. It's for Diva and Dona. As their legal guardian, you're obligated to look out for their well-being, aren't you?"_ Caleb coolly retorted.

"Naturally."

" _Well the thing is, these 'complicated things' could potentially put their lives in danger. I know that Dona has especially had to deal with that whole 'unknown Grim Reaper' business of someone wanting her dead, and I don't need to add this little problem of mine to her already full plate. That's why I've been staying out of town for the last while."_

"Does your father know about this?"

" _Hah. That old geezer_ _ **is**_ _the reason I'm on the lam!"_

Goosebumps formed all over Adelbert's skin. He and Montgomery Murphy had been good friends and neighbors for over 20 years, so hearing this was an incredible shock. "Mr. Murphy… is the one threatening you…? His own son…?"

" _Please. He's no father of mine. Besides, what would he care? He's a walking baby-maker, if you get my drift. He's got more than enough kids lined up to inherit his conglomerate, and if he needs more, he can just have his mistresses act as bun ovens. What's one or two dead kids to him when he's got scores of women lining up to have him as their sugar daddy?"_

Adelbert's mouth thinned into a barely visible line as he heard these venomous accusations. He realized where Caleb's 'favor' was about to come into play. Although he had a hard time believing what Caleb was saying, he also know that he was not a liar. If Montgomery really was threatening his son's life, then there was the chance that Diva and Dona could get involved in some terrible business if they tried to find out where their friend was hiding.

" _So, you ready to listen to me, Old Man? I don't have time to screw around with debates and all that crap. This is for the twins' sake, so listen up,"_ Caleb demanded.

"… I'm all ears, young man."

" _I've sent them letters to their respective apprenticing agencies, and I know they're gonna read them today. I bet the first thing they're gonna do is to talk to you first and ask about the weird things I've written in them. All I want you to do is to tell them that I've got things under control, and that I don't want them involved. I only wanted them to know that I'm still alive. My disappearance is for their own good, if you get the idea."_

"Yes… That seems simple enough. I take it that you don't want them to know about your father being the one who's threatening you."

" _Of course not! I don't want to scare them! I want them to feel safe living next to the old geezer. If you guys suddenly moved away, he might get suspicious and make some unwelcome moves toward you."_

"Very well. I will take that information to the grave with me. And I will remain cordial with Mr. Murphy in the meantime."

" _Don't let him know that we've had this conversation. And don't tell the twins about it either. Pose it as one of your brilliant pieces of advice or something."_

"I shall do that," Adelbert nodded. "Is there anything else you need me to do?"

" _No, that's way more than I could ask of you, Old Man. I've gotta get going, but I'll be watching over things from where I am."_

"Then take care of yourself, and please be careful."

" _Will do! Ciao!"_

They hung up, and the butler stood there for a few minutes. He had to contend with a large lump of emotion welling in his chest as he thought about what his closest neighbor could really be up to. How could he remain on friendly terms with someone whom he knew was putting his son in harm's way? But there wasn't anything he could do. This was a Murphy family problem. His duty was to take care of the DiPrima family. Caleb must've known that as well because his favor was for the twins' sake. All he wanted was to keep his friends safe, and both men could agree to that.

 _At least he didn't ask for me to spy on the Murphys or anything sordid like that,_ Adelbert thought. _That certainly would have been crossing the line._

Nye walked in and saw her employer standing there. She asked him, "Are you all right, Mr. Krandes?"

"Oh, I'm just swell," he turned to face her with a feigned smile. "My apologies, but could you prepare me some cheese and crackers? I suddenly have a serious case of the munchies that needs to be cured."

"That's what I'm here for!"

Nye happily went to the kitchen to prepare Adelbert's snack while he rested on the sofa and exhaled a deep, despondent sigh. His conversation with Caleb made his mind wander back to the days when he was an MI6 agent, and how he often had to deal with people who lived completely different lives from what they presented to their friends and families.

 _Such a two-faced world we live in…_

* * *

 **October 31, 2031**

 **3:15 PM**

 **Wright Anything Agency**

With the matter surrounding Caleb resolved for now, Diva and Dona returned to their regular schooling and apprenticing days. Homework was beginning to pile up on them and with their hectic schedules, they couldn't afford to spend their energy worrying about him. As Dona said before, they would just let the future play itself out.

On the afternoon of Halloween, Dona went to the agency after school and found it unoccupied. She wasn't sure what was going on since no one told her that there were any important events happening today. Work had slowed down for her mentors a bit, giving them a brief reprieve from the craziness that the legal world had to offer. Without a word, she set her carrying case down and prepared to do some cleaning.

 _Maybe they're at the courthouse watching other trials,_ she thought. _They always do that to observe how other people would handle situations that they haven't seen before._

It wasn't even five minutes later when Trucy arrived with her characteristic big smile plastered all over her face.

"Hi, Dona! How are things going at school?" the magician asked.

"Steady, as always."

"Listen, I got a _big_ favor I wanna ask of you!"

"A favor?"

"I'm about to head over to Global Studios because they're holding this big Halloween party tonight. Apollo and Athena are already there, but I need one more person to come with me."

"Can't Mr. Wright go with you?"

"Daddy's gone to the Borscht Bowl to meet up with some friends. I want you to come with me and help me out with showing some tricks to the kids. There's also gonna be a big trick or treat group that's going to go around the neighborhood, and we need all the help we can get with watching the kids. Then when we get back to the studio, there's gonna be a super-important contest!"

"Uh… I'd hate to break to you, but I outgrew Halloween ages ago."

"Oh, live a little!" Trucy grinned. "You're never too old to have fun!"

"Even if you say that, I don't exactly have a costume lined up for the occasion. I was just planning on studying and tidying up the place a little tonight," Dona shrugged.

"Do that tomorrow! Halloween only comes once a year, and you should enjoy it! Besides, don't worry about the costume. I've got it all covered!"

"You're really going to make me do this…?"

"What's with the hesitant attitude?" the magician pouted. "Apollo and Athena are coming with me, but with Daddy gone, I need one more person to complete the set!"

"Then who's watching the office?" Dona raised an eyebrow.

"We've agreed to close the agency for the night. I bet everyone's too busy either partying or trick or treating to bring us any cases anyway."

 _How utterly irresponsible. I could explain to her that crimes still happen on Halloween, but I doubt she'll listen to me,_ the apprentice attorney thought in disbelief. In resignation, she replied, "Fine. If you've got your bases covered, then I see little reason to argue with you."

"Thanks, Dona! Let's get going!"

"Wait, right now?"

"Yeah! There's no time to waste! Apollo and Athena are waiting for us!"

Trucy grabbed Dona's wrist and forced her to follow her outside the office. They went in Dona's car and drove to the studio. Trucy was excited for the evening's events, but Dona didn't seem too enthusiastic.

 _I just hope I don't have another fainting spell like the other day…_ she thought worriedly.

* * *

 **October 31, 2031**

 **3:30 PM**

 **Global Studios**

Dona parked her car at the front parking lot to Global Studios, renowned for being the set where the infamous Steel Samurai series and its follow-ups were filmed. She and Trucy got out and looked for Apollo and Athena inside. Employees were running around in a frenzied hustle and bustle getting ready for the party. The duo passed by some workers as they hauled several dressed up mannequins to the main hall, but then one woman lost her balance and fell to the floor, crashing down with the dummy over her shoulder.

"Owww!" she exclaimed in a pained voice.

"Holy smokes! Are you all right!?" Trucy exclaimed as she and Dona kneeled to help her up.

"Oh, Trucy-dear. You're an angel," the woman thanked her.

After taking a minute to recover from her fall, the woman brushed herself off and said, "Thank you again. Oh, how embarrassing for you to see me like that."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're not too hurt," the magician said.

Dona asked her, "Are you two acquainted by any chance?"

"Yeah. This is Tiara Fulsome, a professional makeup artist. I sometimes hire her to help me with makeup for my shows. Ms. Fulsome, this is Dona DiPrima, the apprentice I told you about before. She's also Louise DiPrima's daughter."

"Why, hello there, darling," Tiara shook the student's hand. "My, you're as lovely as Trucy-dear says you are. I'm so envious of that long silver hair of yours."

Dona didn't reply immediately, wanting to size up the woman first. Tiara was approaching her 40s, but looked as though she was in her mid-20s thanks to the copious amount of makeup and accessories embellishing her stout body. Her black hair was done up in an intricate French braid and had gem-studded hair sticks poking through the back.

"No, it's nothing," Dona said. "It's because of my mother that I have this hair."

"You should know that I'm one of her biggest fans. Oh, to shake hands with the legendary actress' daughter is such a huge honor! I feel like a teenager all over again! Do you think I could get your autograph?"

"Mine? But it's hardly worth anything compared to my mother's."

"Nonsense, Dona-dear. I already have your mom's autograph framed on my wall. If you're going to be a famous lawyer like Mr. Wright in the future though, I would like to be the very first person in the world to get your autograph prior to your grand debut. Wouldn't it be great to frame your autograph and hang it right next to your mother's?"

"I suppose," Dona murmured as she signed and dated the back of Tiara's business card.

"Thank you so much! I just know this will become an invaluable piece of history someday!"

"Sure… if you say so…"

"Sorry to interrupt the mood, Ms. Fulsome," Trucy frowned and pointed at the mannequin on the ground, "but do you need help with carrying that thing?"

"This? Oh, no, not at all! I honestly don't know what I was thinking, wearing high heels while hauling something so heavy around."

"You really should be careful. If your fall had been any worse, you would have been hospitalized! Tabitha wouldn't have liked that, would she?"

"Yes, you do have a point, Trucy-dear. I'll be more careful in the future."

Dona leaned in and whispered in Trucy's ear, "Who's Tabitha?"

"Ms. Fulsome's daughter," she replied. "She's only six years old, but she already a pro on stage."

"Is she going to be taking part in the trick or treat event?"

Suddenly, Tiara barked, _"Absolutely not!"_

This startled the pair, and she regained her composure while uttering, "Sorry for raising my voice there, girls. But I don't allow Tabby anywhere near sweets that don't have Mom's seal of approval. It might ruin her complexion and figure, if you know what I mean."

 _Complexion and figure? How can she say that about a six-year old kid?_ Dona thought.

"I guess so," Trucy folded her arms. "Best to start weaning them when they're young. But what if she gets jealous of the other kids having so much candy?"

"Not to worry. I don't completely abstain her from sweets."

"Are you talking about that rumored pageant crack stuff?"

Tiara was appalled by Trucy's question. "You wound me, Trucy-dear! Tabby is energetic enough that she doesn't need such stuff! No, no, I treat her like a regular girl when she's not on stage. Oh, but this is no time for me to be chattering. As much as I would love to talk about my baby girl all day, I have work to do."

Tiara hauled the mannequin back over her shoulder and trotted away, still in her high heels. After making sure she was gone, Dona asked Trucy, "What did you mean by 'pageant crack'? What exactly does Tabitha do on stage anyway?"

"She's a child beauty queen. You ever hear of Pixy Stixs? That's what I've heard their parents or managers give them to keep them energetic during a full pageant day."

 _Ugh… The more I hear about this pageant stuff, the less enthused I am by it,_ the student thought sourly.

"Well, we better not keep Apollo and Athena waiting anymore. We need to get you three into your costumes as soon as possible," Trucy said, and they continued searching for the others. They eventually found them near the dressing room.

"Finally! Geez, what took you so long!?" Athena demanded.

"Sorry," Trucy conked her head sheepishly. "Had to take care of a thing or two on the way."

"So you managed to get Dona to come, did you?" Apollo adjusted his necktie with a broad grin.

"Was this some kind of plan you all had?" the student asked him skeptically.

"Hey, don't look at me. It was Trucy's idea to begin with. She was worried about you not interacting with us very much, so we thought this could be a good way to bond with each other a bit. Plus with that thing with your childhood friend causing you some grief, this will help you get your mind off of it."

"Hm…"

"Well, no time to waste! Let's get you guys dressed for the occasion!" Trucy beamed and dragged the trio into the dressing room. Fifteen minutes later, they came back out.

While Trucy wore her usual blue magician outfit with a diamond-shaped brooch, the other three had similar variations of her clothing. Apollo's costume was colored red and pinned with a clubs-shaped clasp, exactly like what Zak Gramarye used to wear. Athena's was yellow with a heart-shaped badge (fittingly enough), which was what Valant Gramarye wore for his performances. Lastly, Dona wore a black costume with a spade-shaped jewel, representing what the once-legendary Magnifi Gramarye donned when he stunned audiences with his feats of magic.

"I should have figured this was what you would come up with," Apollo said to the elated Trucy.

"Oh, this is so awesome!" the magician was overjoyed. "It's like Troupe Gramarye has been reborn from the ashes to stun the world with incredible illusions once again!"

"Hee hee!" Athena grinned. "I bet you were biting at the bit to put these on us. This must be a serious case of nostalgia for you."

"You bet! I mean, I know this won't really bring back my granddaddy and the others, but just once, I want to feel like I'm actually part of a troupe instead of just a one-woman act."

"Troupes can be dangerous things," Dona murmured darkly. "You never know what your partners could be up to, although there may come a point when you'll need to decide on a successor. If you have more than one person lined up, things could get ugly."

Apollo didn't want to say anything, but he could totally agree with Dona's warning. Trucy replied, "Well, I'll think about that when the time comes. For now, I need to concentrate on reviving the Gramarye legacy so that people will be interested in being my successors to begin with."

"Right!" Athena added. "Less worrying about the future and more worrying about the present! We need to meet up with the group of kids so we don't miss the trick-or-treating event, right?"

"Yep! Come on, let's go!"

* * *

 **October 31, 2031**

 **4:00 PM**

 **Global Studios – Back Lot**

Trucy and the others arrived at the studio's back lot where a crowd of costumed children and adults were congregating. The adults herded the kids into an organized group and gave each of them glow sticks so they could navigate through the dark. The sky was already starting to darken with heavy clouds, and it wouldn't be long before nightfall was upon them.

" _¡_ _Magnífico!_ The kids look so cute in their outfits!" Athena crooned. "They don't really celebrate Halloween in Europe as much as they do here, so this'll be a new experience for me!"

"I think you're more excited than they are. Take the giddiness down a notch or they'll think you're some kind of mental case," Apollo warned her.

"Rain on my parade, why don't you? Are you having some kind of malaise that you need me to diagnose?"

"What are you talking about!?"

"Mr. Powers!" Trucy waved to one of the men in the crowd. One older-looking fellow responded to her call. He was definitely tall and imposing, as if someone played a cruel joke by personifying a terrifying brown gorilla and giving him a friendly face. His swept hair, slightly turning white from age, surrounded his cranium and ended with a pair of thick sideburns over his cheeks. For some reason that Dona couldn't figure out, the man was dressed up as the Steel Samurai.

"Oh, Ms. Wright! Glad you could make it!" the man greeted her.

"I wouldn't miss this show for the world!"

"Hey, it's Trucy Wright!" one boy exclaimed as he pointed at her. "I saw one of her shows with my dad before!"

"You mean the magician lady who can make stuff appear out of her undies!?" a girl asked.

"Shhh!" her mother hushed her. "Don't talk to her like that!"

"Heh heh heh…" Trucy stuck her tongue out and bonked her head. "She's not exactly lying, ma'am."

"I know, but-"

"If Miss Trucy can make candy appear out of her undies, then we don't need to go trick or treat!" the little girl suggested.

"Oh, no, no, no! I wouldn't want to disappoint the people who are waiting with bated breath for their costumed guests to arrive!" the magician tipped her hat, and the girl immediately changed her mind.

"Trucy?" Dona quietly interrupted them. "I know I'm asking for introductions a lot, but who was that man you were just talking to?"

"Oh, you mean the big fellow? That's Will Powers, an actor and assistant to the famous director Sal Manella. He hired me as the opening act to this evening's main show."

Athena pouted and wondered, "Why is he dressed up like the Steel Samurai? It's like trying to make a English Bull Terrier wear a tutu. I'm surprised the kids aren't scared of him by now."

"Better watch what you say. You know those older Steel Samurai episodes from back in the mid-2010s? Mr. Powers was the actor playing the main lead!"

" _ **W-What!?"**_ the young lawyer yelped in a half-whispered, half-yelled voice.

Apollo sheepishly looked away and muttered, "Open foot, insert mouth."

"Quiet, you!"

 _Well color me surprised,_ Dona thought, not showing as much reaction as her seniors.

"Yep," Trucy nodded. "He's rather sensitive about that subject, so try not to bring it up in front of him."

"O-Okay…" Athena clenched her fists with unnecessary determination.

Dona was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with this conversation, plus there was some time before they were to leave for trick or treating, so she mindlessly ambled around the parking lot for a few minutes. She tried to find Tiara Fulsome, the woman she and Trucy had bumped into earlier, but she saw no sign of her. She wasn't too surprised considering how adamant Tiara was against bringing her daughter out.

Her mind started to wander off into the realms of boredom, but she was suddenly interrupted by an obnoxious, _**"OH HO HO HO!"**_

Dona cringed when she heard that familiar laugh. She turned around to find Diva dressed in an attractive and sleek vampire costume consisting of a red dress that hugged her curvature that was covered with a layer of black spider web-like fabric. Some red eyeliner, lipstick and jewelry completed the set, and she still had her trademark camellia in her hair along with some other hair accessories.

"Oh my goodness! This is just classic!" Diva exclaimed. Dona had no idea whether she was being delightful or mirthful. "I had no idea you were coming to this party!"

"Neither did I," Dona muttered. "Trucy and the others roped me into this."

"Did they, now? Knowing how uptight you tend to be, that must've taken some serious magic to pull off, no pun intended."

"Hmph. So why are you here? You didn't tell me anything about going to a party tonight."

"You might not believe this, but I'm actually shadowing the new prosecutor that I've been apprenticing under."

"Shadowing? Is there a case going on?"

"Oh, no, no, no! Nothing like that! He's actually going to be part of tonight's performance for the contest, and he couldn't resist inviting a lady such as myself! Of course, he wrote it down as 'shadowing' on the official papers, but he told me to think of this as our day of getting to know each other better before we get down to business starting tomorrow."

"That's… beyond words I can think of…" Dona uttered in disbelief.

"Don't be silly. Didn't you get to know your mentor under unusual circumstances as well?" Diva grinned.

"That trial was serious business. This is not."

"Oh ho ho ho! Well, that's just how things are. Oh, by the way, I managed to have him sign these for both of us! You should hang on to yours!"

Diva shoved a printout onto her sister's hands before she could object. It was a dark piece of paper with a stylized 'G' in the center, along with some scribbled signature in white pen that Dona couldn't make out.

"You can thank me later," Diva grinned coyly.

"Hmm… Is your new mentor going to be accompanying this group?"

"Nope. He's gotta stick around and prepare for the main event."

"What is he doing?"

"Oh, come on! You got his autograph and you _still_ don't know what he does!?"

"You mean he does something else besides prosecuting?"

"Oh ho ho ho! Your naiveté is almost too cute for words!" Diva laughed, then noticed that the crowd was starting to move out to the sidewalk. "I'll explain later. I'm gonna go have a chat with the little starlets of this evening's merriment."

Dona watched her sister hurry ahead of her, taking care not to slip in her high heels. Diva smacked Apollo's back when he wasn't expecting it, startling him and causing her to burst into another one of her trademark laughs. Diva introduced herself to Athena and Trucy, and the outspoken trio became friendly rather quickly, dragging along the annoyed Apollo with them. Dona kept a bit of distance between them as she took another look at the autographed paper.

 _Why is Diva being so coquettish about this? She could just say the guy's name and be done with it. Or is she actually keeping it as some kind of surprise for me?_


	28. The Festive Turnabout - 3

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 3 – The Festive Turnabout**

 **Beginning: Part 3**

 **October 31, 2031**

 **6:15 PM**

 **Global Studios – Hallway**

Two hours after the group of costumed children and adults left to do some early afternoon trick or treating, they returned to Global Studios. Athena, Trucy and Diva had been busy with helping the parents keep the large crowd of children in line, while Apollo and Dona kept to the rear to make sure no one was left behind. During a brief moment, Dona said to him under her breath, "By the way, Mr. Justice, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Hm? Go ahead, ask away."

"Just before we left the studio, Diva gave me this."

She showed him the black paper with the stylized 'G' and indecipherable signature. "She didn't tell me who this came from. Do you have any idea?"

"Oh…" he suddenly looked a bit annoyed when he saw it. "Yeah, I know who that is. You ever heard of the Gavinners?"

"What is that, some kind of comedy act?"

Apollo chortled. "Heh heh. He'd be wounded if he heard you say that. No, it was a rock band that was active in the late 2010's and disbanded shortly after I started my law career five years ago. The lead singer was Klavier Gavin, who is also a prosecutor. I've had my fair share of heated debates with that guy, and while his flamboyancy gets rather annoying, he's really good at his job."

"A rock band, huh? No wonder I never heard of them. I find that genre of music too loud and rambunctious for my taste."

"What do you like?"

"Jazz piano. It helps me study."

"Sounds just like you. So why did Diva give you Gavin's signature out of the blue?"

Dona folded her arms in a puzzled manner. "She said she was going to be apprenticing under this guy. Remember that she was interning under Prosecutor Payne, but he had that heart attack during the last trial and had to retire."

"Whoa," Apollo cringed. "That'll be quite the colorful mentor-mentee relationship."

"Well, at least I have a better understanding of why Diva was being so coy with me. I guess I should keep my mouth shut and pretend to be surprised when she introduces him to me. She hates it when I disappoint her by doing my research ahead of time when she wants to surprise me."

"Speaking of surprises, Trucy keeps talking about this 'main event' thing going on tonight. I know she's performing as the opening act, but do you have any idea what the actual show's gonna be about?"

"I'm not positive, although I think I have some kind of hint," Dona said. "Trucy and I bumped into this woman who has a six-year old daughter. Apparently, the girl participates in these things called child beauty pageants, but neither of them said she would specifically participate tonight."

"Hmm… Interesting."

Even so, neither of them really could answer his question. They decided to just wait and see what happened. Now that everyone was back at Global Studios, one of the employees ushered the ecstatic group of children through the main gate and straight right to Studio 1 where the party was being held, passing by a security gate along the way. Diva flashed an imaginary blown kiss to the bored guard for extra emphasis on the character type she was pretending to be.

As the agency quartet approached Studio 1's door, they saw another group of children surrounded by their parents and employees, along with Will Powers as he directed the crew. This time however, the children were all girls, and they were dressed up not in a variety of Halloween costumes, but rather in colorful and elegant _geisha_ outfits, complete with complex hairstyles and gorgeous hair accessories. Their faces were also covered with copious amounts of white makeup to give them that eerie pale look.

Dona finally saw Tiara Fulsome as she passionately adjusted some flowers in a black-haired girl's hair, then gave her some words of encouragement. Dona thought, _That girl must be her daughter, Tabitha._

"What's with all the hubbub, Mr. Powers?" Apollo wondered, briefly interrupting his work.

"Didn't Trucy tell you?" Will asked. "We're holding a contest for the upcoming _Glittering Geisha_ show."

"Glittering Geisha?"

"It's the sequel to the _Steel Samurai_ and _Pink Princess_ shows. Tonight's show is actually a contest to decide who will get to play as the young princess of Neo Olde Tokyo, Princess Maiko."

"Oh, wow! So there's gonna be a sequel after all these years!?" Athena beamed happily. It was obvious that she had become a big fan of the series ever since moving to America from Europe.

"It was delayed a little due to the success of the _Bronze Ronin_ prequel series, but _Glittering Geisha_ will be the Steel Samurai's newest installment. It'll take place several years later, and the Iron Infant will grow up to be the Iron Soldier and the Glittering Geisha's partner. Expect to see it sometime in 2032 or 2033."

"I can hardly wait! Ooh, and this contest is to decide who will play the main heroine!?"

"Not quite. It'll be who gets to play as Princess Maiko, not as the Glittering Geisha."

"I see. So that's why all of the contestants are so young!"

Dona stared at the young girls, ranging from between six to eight years old, as their parents and/or managers got them dressed in very elaborate and colorful Japanese costumes. They wore thick white makeup all over their faces and adorned beautiful hairpieces in their styled hair.

She murmured, "All of these girls look like they know what they're doing. No one seems to be making any sort of fuss against the adults."

Will explained, "That's because they're experienced child beauty pageant stars."

"Trucy mentioned it to me, but I don't know much about them."

"They're beauty contests featuring contestants who are younger than 16 years old. Mr. Manella wanted a young star who was already experienced with the spotlight, so he arranged the preliminaries so that eight girls would compete tonight for the role. He'll have several different categories for them to pass, such as an interview, walking and posture, acting, and dancing to name a few."

"And, of course, don't forget the opening act!" Trucy saluted. "Didn't you know that beauty without magic is a crime in itself!?"

"Can't say I've heard of that one," Apollo quipped.

"Oh, Trucy. Mr. Manella wanted to speak with you about a couple of things. Mind if I drag you away from the fun for just a few minutes?"

"No problem," the magician assured.

Apollo warned her, "Make sure you don't sign anything suspicious, 'kay?"

"I know that!" she pouted, then walked away with Will to take care of some business.

Another assistant guided the group of adults and children into Studio 1, which was modeled to look like a dark haunted house. But this wasn't the typical parody of a dilapidated Western mansion. Rather, this looked more like the inside of an Eastern-styled shrine or dojo, complete with imagery of various _youkai_ and ghosts from popular legend. Even the entrance appeared like a traditional red _torii_ with spooky monsters glaring at the newcomers with comical mischief in their eyes.

"Boy, this takes me back to when we visited Nine-Tails Vale. Don't you think so, Athena?" Apollo murmured nostalgically.

"Yeah. That's the first time I met you, _and_ when I took on my first case in this country," Athena smiled. "It wouldn't surprise me if the designers took inspiration from there. It makes perfect sense to host a Steel Samurai-like contest in a haunted dojo. I can feel the joy from the kids already!"

Dona blankly looked around at the décor, which primarily consisted of Oriental-themed props and decorations, although some traces of Western culture were still present as well such as jack-o-lanterns and scarecrow mannequins. Just then, a loudspeaker started playing some lively novelty music as a deep man's voice declared in a faux Romanian accent, _**"WELCOME… TO THE PARTY OF YOUR AFTERLIFE…!"**_

Diva playfully put her hands on her sister's shoulders and crooned, "Ooh, this is really lovely! The atmosphere is just right for a creepy, yet enjoyable evening. What do you think, Sis?"

"I guess."

"Let's see what they got to eat. I'm totally famished from all of that walking!"

After hearing that, Dona realized how hungry she actually was and decided to follow Diva to the serving tables. She continued gazing around at the refurbished studio without any particular interest. At the tables, they saw a row of catered food such as sandwiches, hors d'ouvres, noodles and various homemade desserts designed in a Halloween fashion. The twins gathered a plate of food each and sat down to eat at one of the dining tables.

Halfway through eating, they were interrupted when a man's voice proclaimed behind them, "There you are, Fraulein. Oh my, if my eyes weren't deceiving, I would think you had split into two for some kind of festive prank. Not that I would've minded, actually."

The twins didn't need to look back as the owner of that voice brazenly put his hands on each of their shoulders and ducked his head between them. He gave each of them a bright smile that didn't feel genuine to Dona.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Diva laughed. "You're a cheeky little devil yourself, aren't you, Prosecutor? Trying to play coy with underage girls! Bertie would have you arrested on the spot!"

"Ouch. Don't make me out to be some kind of deviant, Fraulein. My tastes in women are perfectly legal, thank you very much."

He was a blonde-haired fellow with a lock of curled hair over his left shoulder. He wore a purple jacket, black shirt and pants, and had a necklace with a stylized G hanging on the end, identical to the symbol on the autograph card. Despite his dark horse-like attire, he actually had quite a pleasant aura surrounding him. He had been carrying a guitar case that he set on the ground before the conversation.

 _I have a pretty good idea who this guy is, but I might as well ask anyway,_ Dona thought.

"Diva," she said to her sister, "do you mind introducing me to this man?"

"No need, Ms. Dona," he interrupted. "I'd be more than happy to introduce myself. The name's Klavier Gavin, former leader of the Gavinners and full-time prosecutor. Good to make an acquaintance with my energetic pupil's sister, although I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed that you're pursuing a career as a defense attorney. I have to make a mental note that I'm dealing with identical twins who are studying the opposing ends of our legal world. There could be a song in that, actually…"

"So you've become Diva's mentor after Mr. Payne was forced to retire, am I right?" Dona asked.

"Ja, and what a fiery lass she is. At least she'll keep my day interesting."

"I see."

"Dona…" Diva glared at her. "You're acting like you're not surprised by this news."

"She shouldn't be," Klavier replied suddenly. "She's an apprentice for Wright, isn't she? And that would inevitably mean she's interning under Herr Forehead, whom I've had the pleasure of sparking up the courtroom with on numerous occasions."

"Herr Forehead?"

"Ja, that would be Apollo Justice. I call him that thanks to a little in-joke during our very first trial together. Helps that he has a rather spacious forehead to accompany his lobster-like cow licks."

"Dona! You didn't ask Mr. Forehead about Prosecutor Gavin, did you!?" Diva demanded to her sister.

Dona scratched her chin and darted her eyes left and right. "Maybe… Sort of…"

"Oh, you are such a bore, Sis! Why didn't you just tell me!?"

"Because you always act that way when disappointed. I thought I'd humor you for a change."

"Ugh… Have a heart, will you?"

Klavier laughed at their squabbling and said, "All right, that's enough. I think I get the idea behind your sisterly relationship. One is outspoken and likes to have fun, while the other is to-the-book and rigid, but you both really look out for each other. You should cherish that."

His smile suddenly changed into an uncharacteristic frown as he warned, "You never know when a close sibling bond like that can be shattered into irreparable pieces."

 _Sounds like there's a long story behind that statement,_ Dona thought.

"Well, I won't keep you two any longer. I've gotta meet up with Mr. Powers and the other musicians for some boring prep talk," Klavier said. "Keep your eyes on the stage, girls. You'll get a one-in-a-lifetime show tonight!"

With that, he took his guitar case and left. Diva leaned into Dona's ear and asked, "See, see!? Isn't he a hottie!?"

Her sister didn't really care and merely shrugged. Diva clasped her hands and crooned, "It's any girl's dream to work for a superstar, and now I'm living the fantasy!"

"Be sure not to get too lost in the dream, or I'll be forced to pull you back down to reality."

The older twin apparently didn't hear what her sibling had to say and kept delighting in the prospects of working for Klavier. Dona gave up trying to convice her otherwise and said she would wander around by herself for a bit. In all honesty, she was having trouble getting into the Halloween spirit, wondering what the point of all of this partying and loud music was. She would rather be at the office studying and taking care of business instead of wasting time like this.

 _I guess there's that whole Glittering Geisha thing later tonight, so maybe I should look forward to that instead of being a bored out of my mind wallflower._

She ambled over to the makeshift graveyard where several mannequins, scarecrows and grave markers were set up within an enclosure. Although she found them rather cheesy-looking on the surface, a closer examination revealed that there were a lot of easy-to-miss intricacies that could catch one's eye. As she was about to leave the area, she heard something unusual for a Halloween party; a yapping dog.

Dona looked around since she hadn't seen any dogs at all today. She finally found a tiny black-furred Cairn Terrier puppy rushing toward her. She thought it was going to jump on her unexpectedly, but it actually rushed past her and wagged its tail in front of one of the hanging mannequins. The tiny dog whimpered, then barked a few times and got on its hind legs to try and climb up the mannequin's leg. That was when a young girl's voice exclaimed, "There you are, Noir!"

Dona looked over to find a six-year old girl happily running toward the little canine, and she scooped it into her arms very easily. The girl was dressed up in full geisha costume, meaning she was going to be one of the participants of tonight's contest. Dona recognized her as Tabitha, Tiara's daughter. The girl noticed Dona staring at her, then suddenly asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing."

"You're dressed kinda funny, miss."

"Well, of course I am. It's Halloween."

"Yeah, but that kinda makes you look ugly. Miss Trucy looks way better as a magician."

 _I know a six-year old kid's vocabulary isn't the greatest, but 'ugly'?_

Aloud, Dona replied coolly, "Is that so? Then what do you think I should've come as?"

"Hmmm… The Grim Reaper! You'd look really cool if you put on a black hood and waved one of those big blades around!"

 _Strike two, missy._

"You should know that there's a difference between 'fun' creepy and 'scary' creepy. Your idea falls squarely into the second camp," the student rebutted.

"You think so? I think you're jealous because you're too old to be pretty, especially with those big dorky glasses. I thought a hood would help hide how ugly you are. Maybe a ghost would be a better suggestion?" Tabitha asked.

 _And with that, I am officially offended._

Before Dona could scold her, they heard Tiara call out, "Tabitha! What in the world are you doing here!?"

The upset mother stormed up to the suddenly frightened child and leaned over her like a commander would over a misbehaving private. Tabitha hugged Noir tightly and murmured, "I was looking for Mr. Blaich's doggy."

"You know better than to leave me like that! Come, Mr. Powers is expecting you backstage right now!"

"But what about Noir!?"

"Forget about it! That filthy mutt will ruin your makeup!"

"No, he won't! Noir's a good boy!"

"Give him to me," Tiara demanded and scooped the dog out of her daughter's hands. "Get backstage immediately, or there will be consequences!"

"Uu… Okay," Tabitha moaned sullenly and left.

Tiara noticed that Dona had witnessed their little scene and exclaimed, "I'm so sorry you had to see Tabby misbehaving like that, Dona-dear."

"No, don't mind me."

"Normally she listens to everything I tell her to do, but when it comes to that dog, she's hopeless."

"I'm sure a lot of kids her age enjoy being around pets. It's just a natural thing for them."

"Really now. She should be concentrating on her performances instead of worrying about some useless little animal like this!"

Tiara shuffled the barking Noir in her hands and said, "I'll get this little yapper out of everyone's way, okay? You just enjoy yourself. Oh, and don't forget to root for Tabby, would you?"

She took the dog and left Dona alone. Something about the whole thing bothered her for some indiscernible reason, and she fell quiet for a few minutes. Was it that Tiara's scolding felt more offending than Tabitha's child-like insults? Was it the idea of a dog running around in the studio without his owner keeping an eye on him? She immediately regretted not asking Tiara whose dog it was, but tried not to make a big deal out of it.

Something else seemed peculiar though. Why did Noir run straight for the cemetery area and clamor about around one of the hanging dummies? Furthermore, the dog kept barking and staring at it as if he wanted to be with the mannequin for some reason. Dona approached the life-like dummy in question and stared at it intently. Without warning, she heard the distinct buzz of a fly right next to her ear and shooed it away. Although the lights were dim, she could see two or three flies buzzing around the hanging humanoid prop.

 _That's not good. If any of these bugs got to the food, there'd be a health and safety disaster._

Dona wanted to tell someone in the staff about this, but as she thought more and more about what was going on, she could feel the sensation of her feet being firmly planted to the ground. She didn't want to move from here. She wanted to investigate more.

 _A dog that's interested in one mannequin… Flies swarming around that same one… Could it be?_

She widened her eyes, not wanting to imagine something so unfathomable.

 _I've only heard about this phenomenon in news articles, but is it possible…?_

As her eyes shifted to the other corpse-like mannequins, she noticed that there weren't any flies swarming around them. It was as if they congregated only to the one hanging from the noose. Just then, a centipede scurried out from the pants leg and dropped onto the floor before rushing into some obscure corner.

 _Okay, this just got spooky for all the wrong reasons._

She decided to peer in for a better look. The festive atmosphere of the Halloween party and the Glittering Geisha contest drowned into some odd mix of silence and incoherent noise. Dona decided to see for herself if something was different about this mannequin that would attract so many insects. After all, she was worried that it would be dangerous given the amount of food being served.

She took off one of the dummy's shoes and socks to examine his feet, noticing that a significant amount of blood had mottled on its legs. She opted to look at a different dummy's leg for comparison's sake and found that it didn't share the same features. Another thing that bothered her during the search was the smell. She knew that decomposing bodies let out an awful stench and, although she had never smelled it for herself before, she knew that something horrendously pungent was prevalent around the air. None of the musty Halloween props matched it. It was more akin to fluid from the bowels.

 _What in the world…? Why can't anyone else smell this god-awful odor?_

Dona looked around for anything that could mask it, and spotted the candles inside the many jack-o-lanterns surrounding the decorative cemetery. She kneeled in front of one and blew her hand toward her face to waft the candle's scent at her nose.

 _So that's where the strong pumpkin pie smell is coming from - these candles are scented. Not to mention that various other things like the food and the perfume from the contestants are drowning out that awful stench._

She glared at the hanging dummy and tightened her lips.

 _I'm only about 50% positive here… But if I do one more check and find it, then…_

She decided not to finish the thought and calmly approached the hanging dummy. She didn't want her behavior to appear irrational to the other party-goers, so she kept her steps light and natural. She removed her black top hat and leaned her ear in close to the mannequin's abdominal area, doing her best to hold her breath for as long as possible. After a minute of close listening, that was when she heard some kind of bizarre gurgling or belching sound. Another torrent of foul odors threatened to overwhelm her senses.

 _Okay, that's the clincher. Fake bodies don't expel gases._

Dona coughed in revulsion and hurried away from the now-confirmed dead body. As she scrambled through the crowd, Apollo, Athena and Trucy spotted her.

"There you are!" Trucy pouted after grabbing her arm. "Where the heck have you been!? Don't tell me you've been playing wallflower this whole time!"

"Uh… Well, I… I was taking a look around…"

"Pretty cool, huh? I admit that partying in a haunted house isn't the most original idea in the world, but the organizers sure put everything they had into this!"

Dona accidentally choked on her spit and coughed hard. Apollo gave her some water while exclaiming, "Whoa, you okay there!?"

"What's wrong with you?" Athena wondered. "You're as white as a sheet!"

"M-Mr. Powers… Have any of you seen Mr. Powers around?" Dona shakily asked.

Trucy said, "I think he's in the dressing room with the contestants and their parents. They're just about to get on st-"

Without another word, Dona freed herself from Trucy's grip and dashed toward the hallway. The magician was alarmed as she demanded, "Hey, where are you going!?"

"Why did she want to see Mr. Powers all of a sudden?" Apollo asked his befuddled partners.

Athena suddenly became pensive as she admitted, "Her voice… It's quivering with horror."

"Well, of course it is! Where do you think we are?"

"No, not like that! I mean pure, unadulterated _terror_! The kind you experience when someone is trying to kill you!"

"What!?"

"Let's follow her! Something must have happened!"

* * *

 **October 31, 2031**

 **6:45 PM**

 **Global Studios - Backstage**

Dona passed by several young girls in the hallway talking with their parents and/or managers. Most of them were ready to take the stage for the contest, including the despondent Tabitha. She paid little mind to them and looked around for Will, whom she found talking with one of his assistants; a plain-looking young woman with brown hair wearing rounded glasses.

"Have you seen Mr. Blaich around, Penny?" Will asked.

"No, not since lunch. He's supposed to be here helping out with preparations," the woman replied. "He told me he'd be in his office talking with Mr. Manella about the script for _Glittering Geisha_ 's first episode, and didn't want to be disturbed."

"That dunderhead. Where the heck can he be at such an important time? I know he's the closed, reclusive type, but he was all fired up for this event!"

"Mr. Powers!" Dona called out to him.

"Oh, you're one of Trucy's friends, right?" the shaggy man addressed her. "Sorry, but I'm a little busy here. The show's gonna start in 15 minutes, so-"

"I'm sorry, but I need to talk to you privately. It's absolutely urgent!"

"Huh? Sorry Penny, but keep an eye on the kids for me," Will told his assistant, then Dona took him to a secluded corner where no one could bother them. "Okay, what's so 'absolutely urgent' that you need to interrupt me, missy?"

"I'd hate to break this to you, but I… Well, maybe it'd be better if I showed you."

"Why!? Explaining it to me will be much faster!"

"No, trust me. Showing you will be better."

As Dona and Will ran down the hall back to the party grounds, Athena and the others met up with them.

"What's going on, Dona!? Athena said that you sounded totally horrified!" Trucy demanded.

"I was just about to show Mr. Powers what's wrong. You guys should come too."

The confused trio followed them through the room, pushing and shoving past guests until Dona showed them to the mock cemetery scene. After panting a few times, she pointed to the hanging figure and asked Will, "Do you recognize this man?"

"Huh? Why would I recognize a mannequin? It's just a-" he was about to object, but then took a good look at the man's face. To everyone's surprise, his eyes bulged almost out of their sockets and his jaw dropped so low, they thought it would dislocate.

" _ **M-Mr… Mr. Blaich! WAAAAGGGHHH!"**_

Now everyone's heads turned their way once Will let out his curdling scream.

"Mr. Blaich!? You mean the assistant director for the _Steel Samurai_ reboot!? _That_ guy!?" Trucy gasped.

"T-T-There's no mistaking it…" Will shuddered helplessly. "That's him! What the…!? Why is he here!? Why is he…!? Oh, God-!"

"No way!" Apollo reeled back in horror. "Someone disguised a dead man as a prop!?"

Athena's sickly pallor matched her fright. She asked Dona, "Did you find him like this!?"

"I did," she replied. "Even if Mr. Powers didn't recognize him, I would have told him to stop the party and call the police. This is most definitely a real corpse on display here."

" _Oh,_ _ **gross**_ _!"_

"I'll call the police! Can you guys go tell Penny and have her stop the contest and party!?" Will frantically requested.

"Right away!" Apollo clenched his fists. He and Trucy went to go find the assistant, and Athena was so sick to her stomach that she excused herself to go to the bathroom.


	29. The Festive Turnabout - 4

**DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY**

 **Case 3 – The Festive Turnabout**

 **Investigation: Part 1**

 **October 31, 2031**

 **7:15 PM**

 **Global Studios – Party Hall**

After Will called the police, he ordered some other employees to usher the party-goers out of the hall, leaving only him and Dona standing in front of the display. Ironically, the silence felt more eerie than the creepy music that was being played on the loudspeakers earlier.

"I can't believe this is happening…" Will whimpered, sounding like a deep-voiced terrified child. "How did you figure out that this was a real body, Dona?"

"It was the flies," she replied while gazing at the deceased, still feeling slightly sick to her stomach. "They were only gathering on this so-called 'mannequin'. I was worried about health and safety regulations being violated, so I performed a closer examination. There were other telltale signs I discovered that helped me reach this conclusion."

"Oh man… I'm _so_ sorry that you had to find something as ghastly as this! Do you want to sit down or something?"

"I'm okay. To be honest, this isn't the first time I've had the displeasure of finding a dead body."

"Really? Now that I think about it, your lady friend there looked like she was going to puke up a week's worth of food, and yet you're totally fine despite being the first discoverer. If this isn't your first time, then that would explain it. In any case, it's a good thing you told me right when you did. I certainly wouldn't want any of the kids to have found Mr. Blaich first."

"So who is this Blaich fellow anyway?" Dona wondered.

"His name's Mael Blaich. He is… Or _was_ , the assistant director for Mr. Sal Manella, the creator and director of _Steel Samurai_ , _Pink Princess_ , and _Bronze Ronin_. Mr. Manella was the creative genius, but Mr. Blaich provided the direction and scenarios. He was supposed to be on stage with me for the _Glittering Geisha_ contest, and we were to be in the panel of judges for deciding the winner."

"So the winner would become part of this new show?"

"Right. The Glittering Geisha is supposed to be the princess of Neo Olde Tokyo, Princess Maiko, but she wants to fight for her kingdom against her cruel father, the Dark Shogun, and his subordinate, the Evil Magistrate. She's only six years old though, but she uses her mother's heirloom, the Glittering Ring, to transform into a costumed teenager and help the Steel Samurai and Pink Princess out, while harboring feelings for their grown up son, the Iron Soldier. But don't let the part about the princess being the Geisha be leaked to the presses," Will whispered in a hushed tone.

"Why not?"

"That's supposed to be the big twist in the story. The spoiler, if you would. Until that point, her identity's supposed to be a mystery."

"I see. So why did you tell me just now?"

"Only staff and the contestants know about it. Everyone else believes that the princess and the Geisha are two separate characters. In fact, even everyone we invited to this party has no clue. All they know is that this contest is to decide who will take on Princess Maiko's role. But now that the whole thing's been called off, we have no choice but to divulge this information to the police. Since you're going to be questioned, I figured it'd be best to let you in on it as well."

"I suppose you're right. I wouldn't want to accidentally give away the director's storyline to the wrong people," Dona shook her head. "I'm just surprised that you're so well-prepared for such a situation, Mr. Powers."

"Yeah, well…" Will sighed. "I don't know if you know this, but a long time ago, I was accused of murdering one of my co-stars, and Mr. Wright was my attorney. Gosh, hard to believe it's been 15 years already. You would've just been a little tyke back then."

"I didn't know that. I'll have to look it up in his files later."

"Funny that we're both so experienced with murder, huh? What a world we live in."

Dona put her hands in her pockets, silently agreeing with Will about the sorry state of the world. They eventually heard the police sirens outside, and some officers arrived at the scene to meet with them. Leading them was none other than Detective Heather Fenberry, the same woman that Dona worked with four years ago.

"My, my, my, my…" Heather sighed in exasperation. "What a coincidence to see you like this again, Dona DiPrima."

"You make it sound like finding dead bodies is some kind of morbid hobby of mine, Detective," Dona muttered.

"I wasn't implying that. It just seemed like bad karma, that's all."

"It's been a while, and yet it feels like nothing's changed."

"Well, no point in complaining about it. So tell me what happened that lead you to find the body."

Dona explained everything in detail to the detective, and the older woman wrote it all down in her notebook. Heather couldn't help but remark, "What a crude way to hide a corpse – right in the middle of a Halloween party, and with little kids about to take the stage too. But I can understand the killer's intention; it blended in almost perfectly with the rest of the scenery. I've heard of the phenomenon where people mistake suicide victims for mannequins during the Halloween season, but disguising a homicide victim is a first for me."

"No one appeared to suspect a thing, so the ploy worked for a while," Dona said.

"So why did you go to such great lengths to inspect it when no one else did? And how did you know what checks to make in the first place?"

"Remember my butler, Adelbert Krandes? He used to be an MI6 agent, and he told Diva and I about a bunch of things he learned that he thought would be useful for our law careers. One of them was identifying how long someone has been dead through skin color, blood mottling, expulsion of internal gases, and other factors. In this day and age of autopsies though, I never thought I'd find any practical use for that information until now."

"MI6, huh…?" Heather appeared to be lost in thought.

"Is something the matter, Detective?"

"No, it's nothing."

"So has forensics been able to determine the cause of death?"

"After we removed the prop rope around the victim's neck, we found ligature marks consistent with something like a garrote or a thin piece of cloth beneath. The prop rope would hardly have been enough to cause such tight markings, so the hanging had to have happened postmortem. We also found fingernail marks showing that the victim tried to resist, but was ultimately unsuccessful."

"So this isn't a suicide?"

"No. This is most definitely a homicide. In addition, there was a large injury on the back of his head, but we believe it's not related to the actual death."

"Hm…" Dona murmured. "Do you know what the time of death was?"

"Not conclusively, but since the body wasn't kept under extreme conditions, the decomposition analysis should be fairly straightforward. Why do you want to know that?"

"I'm just worried that you're suspecting me since I'm the first discoverer, so I want to know the time of death to corroborate my alibi."

"Ever the prudent one, as always," Heather scoffed. "The forensics guys should be done soon. I'll let you know as soon as possible so I can get your statement."

Not being able to offer anything else to the investigation, Dona sat in an available chair and observed the officers investigating the crime scene. She figured that she had done everything possible, and that she wouldn't have any further involvement in this case. Yet for some reason, something kept bugging her in the back of her mind.

 _Why do I feel like I'm missing something extremely crucial here?_

While she was waiting, she called Adelbert to notify him of her situation, and then followed that with a call to Diva.

" _No way!"_ was the predictable response Dona got out of her sister.

"I'm afraid so. I already told Bertie what's going on, so you go on home ahead of me."

" _Oooh, that's no fair! Why didn't you tell me during the party!? I would've loved to have taken part in the investigation!"_

" _That's_ what you're upset about?" Dona muttered.

" _Think about it! Prosecutor Gavin is definitely going to prosecute this case, right!? Shadowing such a handsome man while searching for clues to a grisly murder is my dream come true! I'd be the beautiful assistant to a superstar! Think of the movies and novels our escapades would inspire!"_

"I'd hate to break this to you, but it doesn't look like Mr. Gavin is going to be the prosecutor."

" _Huh? What do you mean?"_

"I just saw the detective talking to a well-dressed man. I don't know who he is, but I noticed him wearing a prosecutor's badge on his lapel."

" _Aww. The PO already assigned someone else? Oh well. Can't hog every show out there,"_ Diva grumbled in disappointment.

"Well that's how it is. If everything goes well here, I'll see you at home later."

Dona hung up and continued waiting. After another 10 minutes, a forensics specialist finished talking to Heather, and she approached Dona and said, "Sorry for the wait. We've determined that the estimated time of death was between 1:30 to 2:00 PM today."

"Then my alibi is rock solid. I was in classes at Themis during that time. My professor, Byron Lawe, and my classmates can attest to that."

"Then you're free to go."

"Good luck with the search. I'll keep an eye on this case in the papers."

Heather escorted Dona out of the party hall to Global Studios' front entrance, where a sickly pale Athena was waiting for her. She had been greatly disturbed by the crime scene and gotten sick as much as she could. Widget even had a sad blue expression on its face to symbolize her distress.

"There you are!" Athena exclaimed to Dona. "Is everything okay!?"

"Detective Fenberry gave me the green light to leave for tonight. I've given her all the details I could, and my alibi will definitely check out."

"Thank God! I can't stand this place anymore! I wanna go back and have a nice long shower!"

As they prepared to leave the studio, Dona said to Heather, "If you have any more questions for me, I'm apprenticing at the Wright Anything Agency from 3 PM 'til 7 PM on weeknights. Otherwise you can call my house."

"Very good."

"Then if you'll excuse me."

Dona headed back to her car in the parking lot and prepared to return home for the night. The others agreed to take a taxi back to the agency, leaving her alone to think about the evening's outrageous events. She had been confined in the studio for questioning for about two hours and was starting to get tired. She let out a good yawn, anticipating that Diva and Adelbert would barrage her with questions before she could get a good night's sleep. However, she wouldn't even be able to open the door to her car when she found an impatient Diva waiting for her nearby.

"There you are!" the older twin yelled. "My god, that took forever!"

"What are you still doing here?"

"Isn't that obvious!? I got so worried about you that I couldn't go home by myself!"

"What is there to worry about?"

"That the police would falsely accuse you because you were the first discoverer. It happens all the time, doesn't it?"

"I guess so. But that's not going to happen this time. The estimated time of death is between 1:30 and 2:00 PM today, and we were both in classes then."

"Really!? That's great!" Diva let out an exhale of relief. "Bertie will be happy to hear that!"

Although Dona was equally consoled with the estimated time, she still couldn't shake off the persistent feeling that she had overlooked something vital. Diva noticed her sister's troubled look and asked, "What's wrong? You feeling tired?"

"I am, but there's something on my mind…"

"Like what?"

"It's weird. I've got it on the tip of my tongue, but it's not coming to me…"

"My! Did you forget to tell something to the police!?" Diva barked.

"Of course not. Who do you take me for?" Dona glared. "It's nothing to do with me discovering the victim. I think it's something about the victim himself, but I'm not entirely positive…"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure."

Diva sighed, then patted her sister's shoulder and exclaimed, "You're probably just exhausted, that's all. Come on, let's go home and have Bertie whip us up some hot chocolate."

"Speaking of which, did you call him to let him know you were going to be late?"

"Eh…? Well, uh…"

"You waited two hours for me out here, and not once did you think about calling him?"

"W-Well what about you!? You were probably too busy answering questions to let him know!"

"I remembered to tell him."

"Er…" Diva's hesitant smile had an edge of nervousness to it. "O-Oh ho ho ho! I'm sure he'll understand! He knows that our line of work will involve long hours of investigations!"

"Except we're students, not professional attorneys. Don't be surprised if he slams some kind of curfew on you. You know how much he hates being kept out of the loop about our activities."

"Aw, man…"

* * *

 **November 1, 2031**

 **2:55 PM**

 **Wright Anything Agency**

After Dona finished her classes for the day, she headed straight to the agency and entered the office. It was a complete mess as usual, but she had grown accustomed to navigating around the flagrantly disheveled space. Phoenix, Apollo and Trucy were nowhere to be seen, but Athena was sitting on the couch watching the news.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Cykes," Dona said while hanging her jacket on the stand. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. I thought I was gonna have nightmares about it, but I slept like a log," Athena smiled. "Imagine that! Someone having the gall to hide a murder victim right in the middle of a Halloween party! The news stations have been going crazy over this story!"

"I'm a minor, so my testimony should remain anonymous to the public. I shouldn't be getting any pesky reporters on my doorstep anytime soon."

"Oh, about that. Although the crime scene really disturbed me, I wanted to hear what happened from you directly. The news reporters were rather vague about the details since the police didn't want to release all of the information they had."

"I don't mind."

Dona focused on making some food for them to eat while she explained the previous evening's events to Athena. After hearing her junior's story, Athena grinned, "Wow, that's really something else. I don't think I would've been able to keep my head on straight if I was in your position. Apollo might have Chords of Steel, but you've got Nerves of Steel. Hey, I like that! I think I'll call you that from now on!"

"Please don't. There's only so much silliness I can take."

"Ha ha! You're so funny sometimes!"

As Athena giggled at Dona's expense, they heard the TV blare with an urgent news message. The male reporter announced, _"We have breaking news in the Global Studios Halloween murder case. Police have taken in a man for questioning after he turned himself in. Although we do not have the full details at this time, we understand that the suspect, 43-year old Benjamin Vanille, had gone to the police station and turned himself in as the culprit behind 40-year old Mael Blaich's murder. Police are telling us that Mr. Vanille is fully cooperating with the investigation, and that he will plead guilty to the charges to reduce his sentence."_

"Wow. So the suspect turned himself in already? That was rather quick," Athena muttered.

"Well, with him pleading guilty, this case won't be dragged out with a trial," Dona said as she opened her textbooks and began to do her homework. "Diva's probably fuming that she couldn't participate in this case as Prosecutor Gavin's apprentice. No need to worry about it any further."

Just then, the office door echoed with several knocks. Athena called out, "Come in!"

The door opened, and in walked none other than Tiara Fulsome and her daughter Tabitha. The overdressed mother chirped, "Good day, Dona-dear! Is Trucy-dear available right now?"

"It looks like she's gone out at the moment," Dona said as she looked around the office for the magician.

"She's practicing for a show today, so she won't be in for the rest of the day. Is there something you need, ma'am?" Athena asked.

"Oh dear, I am in quite the pickle," Tiara looked a little flustered. "You see, the usual babysitter that I hire for Tabby is sick, and I am quite frightfully busy this afternoon. Then I remembered that Trucy-dear was co-owner of the Wright Anything Agency and thought that she could help me out of this jam. Oh, but if she's not available, perhaps I could ask you to do this favor for me, Dona-dear?"

"A favor? You mean you want me to watch your daughter for you?" Dona raised an eyebrow.

"Precisely."

"But Ms. Fulsome, this is a legal office. We're not exactly a childcare service."

"Oh, but the office is called the Wright _Anything_ Agency, right? I figured that Mr. Wright and his daughter ran an odd job business aside from their legal services."

"Well, um…" Dona scratched her chin and thought, _Damn it. That 'anything' part of the name is an easy loophole for clients to treat us like doormats. I should have a word or two with Trucy about this._

"Hey, why not?" Athena said. "As long as we're compensated, there's nothing wrong with watching your daughter for the day."

"Yes, yes, I will pay whatever fee you require!" Tiara beamed jubilantly. "Oh, thank you so much… Why, I don't believe I got your name, missy."

"Athena Cykes, ace attorney!"

"Oh, Athena-dear! You're such a doll! You hear that, Tabby? These nice two ladies will be babysitting you today, so you be on your best behavior, okay?"

"Okay," Tabitha nodded.

"My, my, my, what a rush I'm in. To think my ex-husband would do something like this is just ridiculous! You wouldn't believe all of the appointments I had to cancel just to be by his side!"

"Your ex-husband?" Dona wondered.

"We divorced two years ago, but we still keep in contact with each other for Tabby's sake. I heard on the radio about how he turned himself in for Mr. Blaich's murder. Oh, why would he do something so foolish like that!?"

Athena and Dona's throats choked up at the same time. Their surprised reaction got Tiara's attention, and she asked, "Oh, did you both hear about it too?"

"They had a breaking news segment just now," Dona explained. "Some man named Vanille went to the police and willingly gave himself in."

"Yes, yes! That's my ex-husband, Ben! I've gotta go to the station and find out what the devil is going on here! Sorry, girls, but I can't chat any longer! Take care of Tabby for me!"

Tiara hurriedly shuffled out of the office, nearly tripping on her garish long dress while tightly gripping her red purse. After a minute, Tabitha put her arms behind her back and asked Dona, "Hey, aren't you that ugly girl I met at the party last night? I'd know those huge glasses from anywhere!"

"Excuse me, but my name is not Ugly Girl," Dona sternly folded her arms. "It's Dona DiPrima."

"Oh, sorry. And that chirpy lady who looks like a canary is Athena?"

"Yep, got it right," Athena smiled. "Did you meet Dona yesterday?"

"Mm-hmm! I was chasing after Noir when I saw her at the place with the big stones."

"That was the fake cemetery," Dona explained. "Noir is that little black dog, right?"

"Yep! He's Mr. Blaich's doggy. Mama doesn't let me get near dogs because she hates them, but Mr. Blaich always lets me play with Noir! When I grow up big enough that Mama can't boss me around anymore, I wanna have lots of dogs of my own!"

"Wow, isn't that fantastic!?" Athena commented. "Dogs are said to be a great way to relieve stress, and they provide companionship for people who feel lonely."

"But Mama told me that I won't be able to see Mr. Blaich anymore because Papa did something really, really bad to him," Tabitha became sullen.

Dona and Athena glanced at each other hesitantly. They weren't sure what to say to console the six-year old girl, so Dona instead asked, "What did your mom tell you about Mr. Blaich?"

"Something about how Papa got into a fight with Mr. Blaich and hurt him real badly. But I know Papa would never hurt anyone! He's the nicest person you could ever meet!"

"Well, you'll get to learn that everyone has more than one side to their personalities."

"No way! Papa is my most favorite person in the world! Mama even said that if the police think Papa is a bad guy, he'll be put in jail for a long, long time! I don't want that to happen!"

Tabitha was on the verge of crying. Athena placed her hand on the child's shoulders and moaned, "I'm sorry, honey. But if your dad really did do something bad to Mr. Blaich, then he has to take responsibility for it."

"I know that… Say, aren't there those types of people who go into this big room and argue with other people about what the bad guys do? Like, one side says, 'They did it!' and the other side says, 'No, they didn't!'"

"You're talking about a courtroom," Dona said. "And those people who argue with each other are called attorneys. One side represents the prosecution, or the attorney who proves the suspect's guilt. The other side represents the defense, or the attorney that the suspect hires to prove their client's innocence."

"That's it! That's what Papa needs! He needs that defender person to help him!"

Both women scratched their heads, not sure if they wanted to bombard the idealistic girl with the concept of pleading guilty to avoid a trial. Yet if they didn't make at least some reasonable attempt to explain, Tabitha would just pressure them until they gave in reluctantly. Rather than put up with her incessant whining, Dona replied, "Maybe he does. But from what I understand, your dad hasn't hired a defense attorney."

"What!? Why not!?"

"I think he wants to take responsibility for hurting Mr. Blaich, and he feels there's no need to go to a courtroom to argue about it."

"But Papa would never do that! He never, ever, ever, ever would! This has to be some kind of mistake! Maybe someone else was the one who hurt Mr. Blaich, and Papa is being blamed for it!"

"Hmm…" Athena hummed curiously. "That could be possible…"

"But it didn't look like Mr. Vanille had been coerced into turning himself in," Dona whispered.

"Mama said that you guys are those defender people, right!?" Tabitha asked with a sudden surge of exuberant hope in her voice. "Please defend Papa! You're the only ones who can do it!"

Dona asked, "What about your mom? She's going to the station to talk to your dad, isn't she?"

"She won't protect Papa at all! She might act all nice and friendly with him, but she really, really hates his guts!" Tabitha retorted, then pulled Dona down by the shirt and whispered, "I think she'd be real happy if Papa was in jail so I never got to see him again."

"Eh?" the student widened her eyes in shock.

"Ah, now I get it," Athena crossed her arms. "Custody issues. If Mr. Vanille were to be arrested for this crime, Ms. Fulsome would gain sole custody of Tabitha."

"So what's the problem?" Dona shrugged. "At least she'd still have her mother. Better than being tossed around in foster homes, if you ask me."

"No, no, no, no! You don't get it at all!" Tabitha threw a tantrum. "I don't like Mama at all! She always forces me to wear those awful dresses, and she's always making me wear make-up when I don't want to! I can't hang out with my friends when I want to, and she takes me to these weird places to audition for contests all the time! Papa is way nicer to me! He lets me run around and play, and we go to the dog park so I can see the puppies running around!"

"How often do you get to see your dad?"

"Just on the weekends. I have to stay with Mama on school days."

"So you're scared of losing that precious time you have with your dad…"

Athena and Dona glanced at each other for a moment, then nodded together. Athena said, "I guess there's no harm in going to the detention center and hearing his side of the story. If there really is some sort of foul play going on here, then we should at least hear it and see if he reconsiders his stance."

"You'll listen to what Papa has to say!? Thank you so much, Dona and Thena!" the child cheered.

Dona leaned over Tabitha and said, "You should wait for us to come back."

"Aww, why can't I go with you guys!?"

"We're going to be talking about adult things, and I think you would get bored very easily."

"But we can't leave her at the agency by herself. We need to have someone watch over her while we're busy," Athena frowned.

Dona took out her phone and said, "Let me call Bertie. He might help us out a bit."

She spent several minutes talking with Adelbert, then hung up and said, "He's okay with letting Tabitha stay at my place. He and Nye will babysit her until we get back."

"Oooh, that'll be exciting, Tabby!" Athena grinned. "Dona's house is BIG! You'll have lots and lots of room to play around in!"

"How 'big' big are we talking about?" Tabitha asked.

"Big enough to fit a bunch of elephants in!"

"Wow!" the girl's expression lit up. "I've heard about big, big homes that rich people have! I actually get to play in one like that!? That's gonna be so cool! Everyone in my class will be so jealous!"

"Speaking of elephants in the room," Dona interrupted them with a stern tone, "we're only going to listen to what your dad has to say. If he still doesn't want us to defend him, then there's nothing else we can do. Do you understand, Tabitha?"

"Um… Not really… I mean, why would Papa not want you to defend him?"

"I don't know. That's why we need to talk with him first. But a lawyer always abides by their client's wishes, so if he turns us down, it's our job to respect his decision."

"Hmmm… Okay. I don't know what's going on, but you and Thena are gonna try your best, right?"

"Absolutely!" Athena flashed the peace sign. "We won't let you down, Tabby!"

* * *

 **November 1, 2031**

 **4:15 PM**

 **Detention Center**

Dona drove Athena and Tabitha to her house and left the young girl with Adelbert and Nye to babysit. Dona also explained where Tabitha was staying to Tiara so she could pick her up whenever she wanted. Tiara had been surprised to hear about their interest in the case (Dona didn't tell her about Tabitha's request), and provided some details that would be useful when they questioned the culprit. With that sorted out, the two attorneys finally made it to the detention center and arranged to talk to Benjamin Vanille.

"So what did Ms. Fulsome tell you about her ex-husband's arrest?" Athena asked.

"From what I understand, Mr. Vanille was at Global Studios during the victim's estimated time of death, since he had to go through the front security gate and was caught on surveillance cameras going into Mr. Blaich's office. He spent about 10 minutes inside, then ran out flustered for some reason. After the murder was discovered, the police investigated the office and found some blood on the corner of one of the work tables, as well as a patch on the ground next to it."

"Work tables?"

"Mr. Blaich was a creative director, so he was involved in helping Mr. Manella with story direction, as well as designing costumes and making props for their shows. Ms. Fulsome said his office is more like an art studio."

"I get it. So did that blood belong to the victim?"

"The police identified both stains to belong to Mr. Blaich. They think that he had been forcefully shoved onto the corner of the table straight on the back of his head, then collapsed onto the floor."

"Ouch!" Athena winced. "And if Mr. Vanille had left in a panic, then he must be the perpetrator!"

"Must be why he turned himself in – he heard the news of the victim's death and realized that he was responsible, so he gave himself up before the police could look for him."

"I don't know, Dona… Even though Tabitha begged us to defend her dad, this is looking more and more like an open-and-shut case to me."

Dona paused and folded her arms while tapping the floor with her toes. "I wonder about that…"

"Hmm?"

Before Athena could question her junior any further, an officer brought in an ordinary-looking man with trimmed brown hair wearing a typical business suit. Compared to the nauseatingly colorful costumes that Tiara wore, this fellow was frightfully… _plain_ in appearance.

"Hello there," Benjamin Vanille said in a pleasant tone. "I've been told that you're both lawyers who are interested in my case."

"That's right, sir," Athena said, then flashed the peace sign. "My name's Athena Cykes, and this is my apprentice Dona DiPrima. Your ex-wife left your daughter with us while she ran around doing errands, and Tabitha actually asked us to defend you!"

"I see… So you're the ones taking care of Tabitha, and you both came here on her insistence," Ben murmured. "I'm sorry for the trouble she's caused you. She can be quite the handful."

"Hey, don't worry. It's normal for six-year olds to be energetic little things. But we explained to her that if you don't want us to help you, then we have to respect that."

"I appreciate your concern, but I've already pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. I don't think there's any need for your services."

"Let me go over this one more time, Mr. Vanille. Are you absolutely, _positively_ sure that you shoving Mr. Blaich against the table in the heat of the moment caused him to have a fatal head injury?"

"Well, I didn't actually bother to check and make sure… I was in such a panic from the argument spiraling out of control that I got out of there as soon as possible. But I heard from one of the detectives who interrogated me that Mael had a huge head injury that bled out quite a bit. From the pictures he showed me, the wound was on the back of his head, and an x-ray scan showed some fracturing as a result of that fall…"

"Mr. Vanille," Dona became stone-faced. "Was Detective Fenberry among the officers who interrogated you?"

"No, she wasn't. Apparently it was one of the junior officers who spoke with me."

"Then I already have a big problem with this scenario."

"What do you mean, Ms. DiPrima?" Ben's eyes widened.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I was the one to first discover the body during the party."

"What!? You were!?"

"It's true," Athena nodded. "She alerted Global Studios' staff and had them stop the night's events for the investigation."

"I would have never guessed! I wasn't told anything about this! But what does this have to do with you having a 'big problem' with this?"

Dona took out her notes that she wrote while with Heather and explained, "While I didn't do a thorough examination of the body like the police would, Detective Fenberry told me about how the victim was definitely killed as a result of strangulation with some kind of thin rope or thick thread."

"Are you sure…?"

"Positive. I got to see the ligature marks myself."

"That's insane!" Ben yelped.

"It's not. There are even marks from the victim's fingernails scratching against his skin to remove the murder weapon, but he was unsuccessful and succumbed to strangulation."

"I don't believe this."

Athena put her hands on her hips and demanded, "You weren't told anything about this, Mr. Vanille!?"

"No…"

"That's why I asked him if Detective Fenberry had interrogated him," Dona said. "If she did, she would've invariably told him about this. For a different officer to tell him that Mr. Blaich died from a passionate shove that fractured his skull, it must mean that this strangulation piece was omitted from the discussion."

"Then is that cop trying to frame me!? What the hell is the prosecutor doing!? Why are they keeping this from me!?"

"I don't know," Athena growled, her eyes flared with anger, and Widget turned red, "but now I definitely want to get to the bottom of this! Mr. Vanille, please make me your lawyer! Plead not guilty and let me defend you! I'll find out every nitty gritty detail and shove in their face for everyone to see!"

"Ack-! I-I can see that you're passionate about my case, but…"

"What's wrong!? Just do it!"

"It's just… Do you guys have any proof to support your story?"

"Huh?"

"I see," Dona nodded. "That's a reasonable doubt to have."

"Care to explain?" Athena grumbled.

"It's simple. We don't have any kind of evidence like crime scene photos or the autopsy report to show him. All he has to go on is our word. For all he knows, we could be making all of this up to coerce him into being our client. You know the whole stigma we lawyers have to face about being 'ambulance chasers'. He must be on his guard because of that."

"Ugh… W-Well that's… I mean, you were there, weren't you…?"

"What do you mean?"

"As the first discoverer and all that…?"

"Detective Fenberry said that the victim died at roughly 2:00, while I found the body at almost 7:00. I have no idea what happened before I got involved. All I can tell anyone is what I saw during the party, well after the death occurred."

"Oi…"

"Ms. DiPrima is right," Ben frowned. "Unless you have proof, I can't accept your story, and thus your services."

Just then, a man's voice interjected over the trio, "Then why I don't I help clear up our little misunderstanding, ja?"

The guard opened the door leading to the cells, and in walked Klavier Gavin.

Athena yelped and exclaimed, "Prosecutor Gavin!"

"Achtung, baby," the man gave her a quick two-finger salute. "Couldn't help but overhear your conversation there. I think I can help out a bit by unraveling the tangled web that you have caught yourselves in, little butterflies."

"Can you!?"

"Mr. Vanille, if you would care to take a look at this, I think you'll reconsider your stance," Klavier offered Ben the autopsy report for Mael Blaich.

He spent a few minutes reading through it carefully, then exclaimed, "This is ridiculous! This is hardly the autopsy report that that other prosecutor showed me before!"

"I thought as much."

"What in the world is going on with you prosecutors!? Is this going to be like Manfred von Karma all over again!?"

Athena and Dona glanced at each other, completely perplexed as to who that was. Klavier replied, "On behalf of the Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutor's Office, I want to extend my deepest apologies for this falsity. I found out about this after I spoke with Detective Fenberry and discovered that you pleaded guilty for killing Mr. Blaich by shoving him against the table, but she found it suspicious because she knows that the victim was killed by strangulation."

"Then what is the meaning of this mix-up, Mr. Gavin?" Ben sternly demanded. "Is there some kind of cover-up going on here?"

"Unfortunately, sir, that appears to be the case. I expediently spoke with Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth about this, and he has formally dismissed that prosecutor for attempted malicious prosecution. Likewise, Detective Fenberry fired the officer who interrogated you since he was in cahoots with that prosecutor."

"My God! What in the world are you people thinking!?"

"I'm not privy to whatever the previous prosecutor was thinking, but I assume that since you turned yourself in and that there was a large wound on the victim's head, he could use that to his advantage by charging you with second-degree murder. It meant he had to alter a lot of the details for the trial, but unlike Von Karma, this fellow wasn't very smart and left a nice little paper trail for us to follow."

"So you're saying my case would have just been another notch on that guy's belt, and that the judge would never have learned the truth?"

"Most likely. If left for too long, the other prosecutor would have destroyed the real documents to eliminate the trail."

"This is too absurd for words," Ben seethed so hard that his body literally shook on its own volition.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Vanille," Klavier apologized again. "I have taken care of things though, and Mr. Edgeworth has assigned me your case for a fresh review."

"I see. If that's the case, then thank you for your work, Mr. Gavin. I don't want to imagine what kind of disaster would have been wrought upon me if that fellow's ploy actually worked."

"Well, don't be too quick to thank me. If you change your plea to not guilty, I'll have no choice but to prosecute against you."

"And that's where we come in, Mr. Vanille!" Athena chimed in enthusiastically. "You should change your plea and let the Wright Anything Agency defend you! Something fishy is going on, and I want to get to the bottom of this! It's for you and Tabby!"

"Tabitha…" Ben closed his eyes and thought about his daughter. Finally, he opened them with newfound determination and said, "All right. I'll let you represent me, Ms. Cykes."

" _Tres bien!_ We won't let you down!" she flashed the peace sign.

"This means you're officially changing your plea, ja?" Klavier asked him.

"Indeed. I know I shoved Mr. Blaich against that table, but I definitely did not strangle him."

Dona scratched her chin and asked, "So why did you turn yourself in and plea guilty in the first place?"

"I don't know if you've seen the injury to Mr. Blaich's head, but during our heated argument, I pushed him backwards and he lost his balance. He fell and hit his head against the corner of a work bench so hard that I saw some blood, and he had passed out. I panicked and ran out of there as soon as I could, but when I heard he was dead, I was sure that I caused his death. I wanted to do the right thing and turn myself in. But if me pushing him wasn't what really killed him, then…"

"I get it. Seeing such a gross injury would make anyone think incoherently."

"We'll have to do some further investigating to figure out what's going on here," Klavier said, then gave the girls a suave grin. "And with that, I will have to ask you both to come talk to your client at a later time. I have some hard questions of my own that I want to ask Mr. Vanille here, and it may take me a good part of this afternoon."

"Aw, shucks," Athena pouted.

"At least we managed to grant Tabitha's wish," Dona said. "With Mr. Vanille's request for defense in hand, we can go back to Global Studios and investigate Mr. Blaich's office."

"You're right. Let's make haste, then!"


End file.
